Securities class actions and conditional conservatism: Evidence from two legal events

We use two US court rulings as exogenous shocks to firms' litigation environment and examine the changes in conservative financial reporting following these court decisions. The Silicon Graphics ruling in 1999 imposed a heightened pleading standard and discouraged the filing of shareholder lawsuits against firms with headquarters in the Ninth Circuit. The Tellabs ruling in 2007, however, effectively reversed the Silicon Graphics ruling and made it easier to file securities litigation against Ninth Circuit firms. We predict and find that the reduced litigation risk following the Silicon Graphics ruling discourages conservative reporting for Ninth Circuit firms. By contrast, the elevated threat of shareholder lawsuits following the Tellabs ruling encourages conservative reporting for Ninth Circuit firms relative to non-Ninth Circuit firms. The disciplining effect of the threat of shareholder lawsuits on conservatism is stronger for firms facing higher ex ante litigation risk. The litigation-risk-induced increase (decrease) in reporting conservatism leads to higher (lower) firm valuations.     

巨灾风险管理中的行业损失担保

行业损失担保是一种赔付主要由巨灾所造成的整个保险行业损失所触发的保险连结证券。与传统再保险相似,它也要事先确定合约的涵盖地域、灾害种类、责任限额和有效时间等。但它与传统再保险不同在于,赔付取决于两个损失触发条件,即购买者的实际损失和整个保险行业的损失。本文从行业损失担保的市场发展、定义与运行机制、精算定价等角度,对其进行了系统梳理分析,并把它与其他巨灾风险连接证券进行了比较。