The pace of federal securities class actions continued at near-record levels in 2018, according to a report issued today by Cornerstone Research and the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. Core filings increased for the fifth consecutive year, while a slight decrease in the number of federal filings related to mergers and acquisitions caused a minor decline from 2017’s record total.

The report, Securities Class Action Filings—2018 Year in Review, shows that plaintiffs filed a total of 403 securities class actions in 2018 compared to 412 in 2017. The number of core filings increased from 214 to 221—the highest level since 2008, when securities class actions surged due to volatility in U.S. and global financial markets. Federal M&A filing volume was the second-highest on record, despite declining from 198 to 182.

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Combined federal Section 11 and state 1933 Act claims in state courts also peaked in 2018. “Section 11 claims, based on the Securities Act of 1933, are increasing in state court filings after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Cyan ruling in March of last year,” said Professor Joseph Grundfest, director of the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. “For example, we saw no 1933 Act filings in New York in 2017. In 2018, we saw 13 of these cases—all filed after the Court’s ruling.”