Federal securities class actions decreased in the first half of2012 compared with last year largely because of a decline inChinese reverse mergers and the lowest number of mergers andacquisitions since the third quarter of 2009, according to astudy.

According to the Stanford Law School Securities Class ActionClearinghouse and Cornerstone Research, 88 federal securitiesclass-action, or group, lawsuits were filed in the first six monthsof this year, a reduction of 6 percent from both the first half andsecond half of 2011.

Stanford Law School and Cornerstone reported five securitiesclass actions filed over Chinese reverse-mergers in the first halfof the year, a 79 percent decline compared with the same periodlast year, and seven such filings related to mergers andacquisitions in the past six months, a 67 percent decline from thesame period in 2011.