Ladenburg Thalmann banking analyst Richard Bove told FOX Business Network anchor Liz Claman on Monday that he stands behind the research that led to a defamation lawsuit filed against him and his firm.

BankAtlantic Bancorp filed a lawsuit in Florida seeking damages and alleging defamation and negligence stemming from Bove's recent report called Who Is Next?, which was written in the wake of the collapse of IndyMac Bancorp. Bove said he couldn't comment directly on the lawsuit or the allegations.

But he told Claman the research that led to the lawsuit was intended to show that the banking industry is in "much better shape" than most people think. "IndyMac had gone under and I was getting getting questions from clients concerning what was the state of the banking industry," he told Claman . 

Bove said he created a formula that showed that about 95% of U.S. bank holding companies are fairly healthy. "We thought we were saying something positive."