3
Given the substantive requirements of the federal securities laws and the procedural reforms made to those laws through the enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act ("PSLRA") and the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act ("S LUSA"), judicial rewriting of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 is unnecessary and unwise. The PSLRA and SLUSA made wholesale changes in the manner in which securities claims are litigated and tried. Analysis of trends in securities litigation since the enactment of PSLRA and SLUSA demonstrates that the number of securities actions filed has declined while the recoveries to investors have increased. Institutional plaintiffs, acting in the role of lead counsel under the PSLRA as provided by Congress, have been instrumental in recovering billions of dollars for investors in federal securities actions. These include:
Enron, in which the Regents of the University of California as lead plaintiff secured over $8 billion in recovery for shareholders.
Worldcom, in which the New York State Common Retirement Fund secured over $6 billion in recovery for shareholders.
Tyco, in which the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System and five other public pension funds secured over $3 billion in recovery for shareholders.
Cendant, in which the California Public Employees' Retirement System secured over $3 billion in recovery for shareholders.
