Stock market volatility increases the liklihood of class action suits against US businesses and the senior executives who run them, according to a new study by Carpenter Moore, the insurance brokerage owned by the Nasdaq stock market.

In a finding that underscores the potentially litigious nature of doing business in the US, the study found a direct correlation between financial market volatility as measured by the CBOE’s Vix index and the number of class actions filed in the US over a period of 11 years from 1996 to the end of last year.