The Ninth Circuit was particularly active this year, with the highest number of securities class ac- tions (against companies in all sectors) on record, increasing from 45 filings in 2017 to 69 filings in 2018.6 This report focuses primarily on some of the more interesting decisions in the cases brought in the Ninth Circuit and the California Federal Courts. In addition, this report provides an update on new developments in the area of blockchain and digital currency. The Ninth Circuit and California district courts issued several significant, detailed decisions dismissing virtually all claims against technology companies in various growth stages, as well as against their directors and officers. These cases involve disclosures concerning the types of issues that technology companies may face, including earnings results, future growth prospects and reve- nue projections, adjustments to guidance, financial restatements, internal control issues, mergers and acquisitions, or a setback or problem experienced by the company with respect operations. These courts dismissed most of these actions on the basis that plaintiffs failed adequately to allege that the defendants’ statements were false or mislead- ing and/or that plaintiffs failed to allege particular- ized facts—as required under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”)—that the defendants made false and misleading statements or omissions with scienter (i.e., intentionally or recklessly). In particular, the Ninth Circuit issued two decisions in 2018 related directly to pleading standards in se- curities class actions. In one case, the Ninth Circuit examined two competing lines of case law in the Ninth Circuit regarding loss causation. The Ninth Circuit disagreed with the defendants’ position that plaintiffs must plead that the actual fraud was re- vealed and held that loss causation can be estab- lished if there was a causal connection between the facts misrepresented or concealed, and the alleged loss. In another key case, the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of Section 14(e) claims challenging merger disclosures and Year 2018 Year 2017 Year 2016 Average 1997-2017 28 23 22 27 14 18 50 24 32 50 9 15 (Figure 1) Technology and Communications Sectors Core Filings 2016-2018 Note: Sectors are based on the Bloomberg Industry Classification System. © 2019 Cornerstone Research. All rights reserved. Technology Communications 3