A new report from Cornerstone Research indicates that securities class-action filings with accounting allegations rose for the third consecutive year.

According to Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements – 2015 Review and Analysis, the 71 filings last year exceeded the average over the past decade of 67 filings. There were 69 accounting-related case filings in 2014.

Accounting cases are those involving alleged violations of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and auditing, or financial reporting weaknesses in internal control, the report states.

“Not only did the number of accounting case filings increase in 2015, the market capitalization losses associated with those filings jumped, as well,” Elaine Harwood, PhD, vice president of Cornerstone Research and head of the firm’s accounting practice, said in a prepared statement.

The filings were split evenly between NYSE and NASDAQ, but the market cap losses associated with cases filed against NYSE firms were more than 4 1/2 times the amount associated with cases filed against NASDAQ firms, the report states.

Accounting case settlement expenditures totaled $2.6 billion last year, almost triple the $906 million in expenditures for 2014.

“Looking at overall settlement dollars for 2015, accounting cases represented 87 percent of the total value,” said Laura Simmons, a senior advisor at Cornerstone.

For settlements of securities class actions, accounting cases comprised the majority of total settlements, the report states.

Read the source link below for the complete details of the report.