Research released by class action tracking and administration firm Financial Recovery Technologies shows a record number of new securities actions have been launched in Australia in recent years.Accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the opt-in actions filed globally, Australia "is among the most active jurisdictions for securities litigation efforts outside of the US and Canada, with nearly 40 class actions filed since 2010," FRT stated in a media release.This was the year that US courts decided, in the Morrison v. National Australia Bank case, that foreign investors need to take action in their own jurisdictions, respectively. FRT said it expects the litigation landscape in Australia to further evolve as the industry continues to mature and regulations change as a result of various class actions underway or under consideration."Australian class actions largely [require] participants to 'opt-in' and employ litigation funding agents to mitigate initial costs," wrote FRT in a whitepaper last year. "In 2016, we saw a record number of opt-in actions filed globally - a 56 per cent increase from the previous year - and Australia represented 30 per cent of that pool. To date, these actions have recovered more than $1.86 billion for investors," FRT noted via media statement.Funders typically require a minimum level of institutional losses to be 'registered' before committing to finance litigation.  "These successful outcomes have increased the competition between, and quantity of, organisers and third-party litigation funders," said FRT. However, growth introduces new challenges.  As institutional investor interest gets spread across more competing organisers it becomes harder for each of them to hit their funding thresholds.  As a result, cases can take longer to be launched.