A tenth class action law firm filed suit against Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. yesterday alleging the company and five of its officers broke securities laws by issuing inaccurate financial statements.

The Pittsburgh law office of Alfred G. Yates, Jr. is the tenth firm since July 27 to file suit seeking class action status with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Just two days prior to the first suits, the reinsurer?s share price fell nine percent after it disclosed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission gave chairman and chief executive James Stanard (pictured) a Wells Notices for allegedly violating federal securities laws. Mr. Stanard, as well as the company?s former senior vice president Michael Cash who also received a Wells Notice and resigned last month after refusing to voluntarily accept service of an SEC subpoena, have a chance to respond to the SEC before any formal action is taken.

The notices were issued in connection with the SEC?s investigation into the company?s restatement of financial results from 2001, 2002 and 2003 to correct how it accounted for reinsurance it had purchased from companies including Inter-Ocean Holdings Ltd, which specialised in finite reinsurance and was partly owned by RenaissanceRe.

Class action lawyers often file suit following civil actions from federal regulators in a bid to seek compensation for private investors who bought securities based on inaccurate corporate information.

The ten class action firms which have now started trawling for aggrieved shareholders, name defendants as Mr. Cash and Mr. Stanard alongside other executives William Riker, John M. Lummis, Martin J. Merritt; and RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.

The actions are being brought on behalf of people purchasing publicly traded RenaissanceRe securities between January 24, 2002 and July 25, 2005.

The complaints generally allege that the company entered into and improperly accounted for various contracts with Bermuda-based Inter-Ocean, which allowed the company to smooth and manipulate earnings during the class period.

The suits also accuse RenaissanceRe of failing to properly account for premiums received during the first three quarters of 2004 on multi-year reinsurance contracts, which all caused the company to misstate its net income figures during the class period. The company also lacked internal controls and its financial results were in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), according to the complaints.

RenaissanceRe is among a number of companies in the insurance industry that has received subpoenas in recent months from state and federal regulators investigating whether companies have used finite risk products to manipulate their results.

The company has previously announced that it is co-operating with the Government authorities in their investigations.

As for the growing number of class action firms filing suit, a spokeswoman said yesterday that the company has a policy not to comment on litigation matters.