A North American Perspective On Securities Class Actions

The United States and Canada have well-developed class action regimes. These regimes are frequently used to advance claims arising in the context of each jurisdiction's securities markets. At present, the regulation of securities and the relevant procedures for class actions are domestic (federal, state or provincial) in nature, leading to jurisdictional differences as to how such claims are advanced. That being said, parallel class action proceedings are often filed in both jurisdictions based on the same or similar allegations and as such it is important for the parties and their counsel to understand the legal environment on both sides of the border. This allows for the adjustment of strategies as may be appropriate to reflect jurisdictional differences. In this chapter we focus on securities class actions in the United States and Canada, reviewing several recent decisions which have considered important legal principles in this continually developing area.