Federal securities class action filings rose by roughly 50 percent to more than 400 in 2017, due in part to a surge in investor suits challenging mergers, two new reports say.

The reports released this week by NERA Economic Consulting and separately by Stanford Law School and Cornerstone Research use different methodologies and came up with somewhat different tallies. Filings increased to 412 from 271, according to Stanford Law School and Cornerstone Research’s Jan. 30 report, which filters out multiple filings arising from the same transaction, or to 432 from 300, according to NERA Economic Consulting’s Jan. 29 report.

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