Frequently Asked Questions
- Are you attorneys?
No. Battea does not provide legal advice or representation. Battea generates the highest net return from settlement assets after the litigation has been completed by the courts
- What are the fees?
Battea uses a performance fee structure, which directly aligns the interests of Battea with our clients. Our clients incur no costs and pay Battea no fees until a settlement award check is delivered to the client. We believe this fee structure negates the risks of mediocre results inherent in subscription and imbedded services. Battea’s client list is replete with clients that were routinely receiving low awards and/or missing filings completely while they relied upon an award recovery system that lacked any performance incentive.
- Why should our organization hire a third party like Battea to manage our claims recovery?
Professional firms hire third party service providers for their expertise, performance and cost effectiveness and to eliminate the reduction of resources from their core operations focus. Battea’s experts deliver maximum awards that produce the highest net returns available in the industry.
- What transactional data does Battea need to process our claims?
A complete history of trade data assures you, the client, that Battea will capture all award monies. Ideally your organization will provide Battea with all your transactional data dated from 1997; however, we recognize that securing such older data can be challenging. Battea processing specialists will work with your clearing/execution partners to retrieve as much data as possible.
- How does our firm provide the transactional data to Battea?
Battea prefers that data be transferred by hard copy disks; however, account log-ins, ftp sites or other electronic transfer methods are appropriate. Data can also be provided via in-house data retention systems or third party software applications. Battea processing specialists can interface directly with clearing/execution firms to receive data.
- If Battea is managing our settlement claims, what work will our staff be required to perform?
The short answer is none. Once the initial transactional data has been provided, Battea’s processing specialists will coordinate monthly updates. Otherwise, Battea assumes all the work necessary to deliver maximum awards to your firm.
- How does Battea secure the confidentiality of our firm’s data?
Battea takes client data confidentiality very seriously and implements the following safeguards. (Further measures are detailed in Addendum A: Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Provisions of the Service Agreement.
* Dedicated firewall and VPN services to prevent unauthorized system access
* Biometric scanning to limit access to data centers
* Physical security of data centers audited by an independent firm
* Independently audited disaster recovery plans
* Use of best practices in the random generation of initial passwords
* Encryption of all passwords during transmission and while in storage
* System accesses are logged and tracked for auditing purposes - How does Battea track developments in the securities class actions settlements market?
Battea maintains an in-house securities class action database and employs several overlapping methodologies to assure complete and current information on all pending securities class actions. Class action information from subscription and non-subscription data sources including Xcitek, Bloomberg Financial and Stanford Clearinghouse are harvested on an ongoing basis. Battea receives mailings from all major claims administrators such as Gilardi, Garden City Group, Berdon and Heffler. Additionally, district court information sources are regularly screened for new cases and regular communication is maintained with major lead plaintiff law firms such as Milberg, Entwistle & Cappucci and Bernstein, Litowitz, Berger & Grossmann.
- How does Battea report information on pending claims?
Battea provides clients with monthly reports detailing the status of pending claims. These reports include an analysis of the recognized loss of each claim filed. Battea also generates custom reporting to meet each client’s specific needs.
- What is “recognized loss,” and how is it calculated by Battea?
A recognized loss is the economic loss suffered by a claimant as defined by the Plan of Allocation. Recognized loss represents the true value of a claim and is the specific number used by the claims administrator when calculating the pro-rata award amount for each claim. It may or may not correspond to an actual loss in the real world. Battea processing specialists load the transactional history of a client into The Claims Engine®, a proprietary, end-to-end processing system, which matches that data with the universe of current settlements and accurately calculates recognized loss for each and every claim to which the client is eligible. That recognized loss is confirmed with the claims administrator and substantiates the value of the claim.
- Does Battea file all claims for which there is a recognized loss? If not, how do you determine which claims to file?
Battea files every claim for every account whether there is a recognized loss or not. It is the claims administrator’s responsibility to determine who is owed money, and it is imperative to our client’s interest to provide an outside analysis of their conclusions.
- What kind of experience does Battea have in this field?
Battea had its beginnings in a successful options trading firm based in San Francisco. The intimate knowledge of the complexities of derivatives trading and the constant drive for automation led to the construction of a proprietary processing system to calculate the value of settlement claims. Built on an Oracle 10i database and time tested over twelve years, The Claims Engine® has been proven in over 500,000 claims. In tandem with this powerful, end-to-end processing, the experts at Battea have developed a sophisticated research system and strong reputation for accuracy, innovation and performance within the class actions industry and specifically within asset management companies, hedge funds and proprietary trading firms.
- How long until we begin to see award checks?
The filing and distribution process can be lengthy. There may be awards received within 4 months of a filing; however, it is more common to have awards arrive 9-18 months after a filing.
- If we have missed filling deadlines, can Battea still recover an award?
The court has discretion to determine whether a late claim will be accepted. However, Battea has a strong track record of successfully filing late claims and delivering awards from those settlements for those (new) clients that have missed deadlines.