Analysis of Securities Class Actions by ESG Risks
Over the past decade, Directors and Officers (D&O) underwriters have observed the evolution of losscauses leading to securities class actions (SCA). While in early 2010 almost all SCA settlements werecaused by activities related to core corporate governance, recent SCA settlements are indicative of avariety of loss causes with a significant presence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks asunderlying factors. Our review of the SCA settlements recorded between 2020 and 2022 suggests that64% of settlements correspond to environmental and social risks, while the remaining 36% are relatedto governance risks. ESG-related regulatory requirements are on the rise in the U.S. and [...]