— Six of the non-U.S. issuers against whom securities class actions were filed in 2019 are alleged to have misrepresented the prospects of approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and/or compliance with FDA rules and regulations.

— Three of the non-U.S. issuers are alleged to have failed to disclose alleged violations of Chinese government regulations.

— Three of the securities class actions filed against non-U.S. issuers related to alleged bribery schemes.

— Seven of the non-U.S. issuers are alleged to have failed to disclose conflicts of interest that were purportedly relevant to investors.

— Plaintiffs filed a total of 64 securities class action lawsuits against non-U.S. issuers in 2019, compared with 54 in 2018, which our previous report on non-U.S. issuers revealed. The 64 from 2019 accounted for just over 15 percent of the total 404 securities class action lawsuits that year.

Of the 64 non-U.S. issuers against whom securities class action complaints were filed in 2019, 18 have corporate headquarters and/or principal places of business in China. Of these 18 companies, 15 are incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

Twelve of the non-U.S. issuers have corporate headquarters and/or principal places of business in the United Kingdom. Nine have corporate headquarters and/or principal places of business in Canada.

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada, six of the Canadian companies against whom securities class actions were brought in 2019 were cannabis-related companies.

Other/unknown industries accounted for 35 class action lawsuits filed in 2019 against non-U.S. issuers, followed by the biotechnology and drugs industry, which accounted for 18 such lawsuits filed.