News for 2009

CSG files lawsuit against Morgan Keegan alleging investment fraud

judge gavelA recent report in the Memphis Business Journal says Consulting Services Group LLC (CSG) is the latest company to file suit against Morgan Keegan & Co., alleging illegal actions resulting in significant losses in its investments in several Morgan Keegan funds. CSG, based in Memphis, provides investment services for foundations, endowments, public funds, trust companies and high-net worth individuals.

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Regions Financial eyes ‘any and all’ options to raise capital

regions financial1A report by Reuters news service says Regions Financial Corp. CEO Dowd Ritter is open to “any and all” possibilities to raise capital in order to repay the U.S. goverment for the bailout money it loaned the institution. , based in Birmingham, Ala., received $3.5 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. However, despite this pledge, it is unclear that Region’s brokerage arm, Morgan Keegan, is on the table.

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FINRA statistics show uptick in bond fund lawsuits

FINRA logoAccording to a report in U.S. News & World Report, recent statistics released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the organization that handles almost all securities arbitration, including claims by Morgan Keegan investors, show there has been a notable increase in the number of filings. In particular, the organization is seeing an increase in claims involving bond funds, which are represented as generally secure investments.

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FINRA awards $1.4 million to NBA star for Regions Morgan Keegan losses

Chicago Bulls 100x100On Friday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) awarded $1.4 milion to ex-Chicago Bulls star Horace Grant as compensation for losses the NBA star suffered as a result of investments in Morgan Keegan bond funds. There are numerous lawsuits pending against the financial management company as a result of the funds, which investors allege were represented as low-risk, but which were actually tied to the volatile subprime mortgage market. When the market crashed, investors lost up to 80 percent of their investment, almost overnight.

FINRA is the money management industry’s regulatory organization, and is overseeing hundreds of arbitration complaints from investors.

Recently, Morgan Keegan made a surprising decision to appeal three of the arbitration judgments, which had been decided by FINRA in favor of the investors. Those cases are now tied up in further litigation. Other suits are still pending review.

Morgan Keegan appeals hit Regions shareholders in the pocketbook

In an unusual move recently, Morgan Keegan & Co. has filed for appeal on three rulings handed down by arbitration panels against the company. This development was reported today by the Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones Newswires. In most cases of arbitration, awards are usually binding, with parties only allowed to appeal when arbitrators clearly ignore established laws.

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RMK losses still piling up in arbitration rulings

A recent news release published on the Class Action Newsline reports Morgan Keegan has suffered another defeat at the hands of a FINRA arbitration panel in Boca Raton, Fla., which awarded $431,000 to plaintiff Philip Richardson for his losses in RMK investment funds. This is the latest in a string of judgments against Regions Financial Corp.’s Memphis-based Morgan Keegan unit.

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Regions stock drops in light of arbitration losses

stock market crash2 100x100Regions Financial Corp., based in Birmingham, Ala., was on the recent Market Watch list of “notable moves” in the stock market. Unfortunately for the company, it was listed alongside General Motors (GM) on the list of “decliners” after experiencing a 5.9 percent drop in stock value.

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Investors, 6 Morgan Keegan, 0

Morgan Keegan has suffered it sixth straight loss in arbitration negotiations with investors who claim they lost substantial amounts of money when RMK misrepresented its bond funds. The suits claim RMK presented the bond funds as low-risk investments, when they actually were tied to the volatile mortgage bond market. When the subprime mortgage lending crisis reached a peak, many investors lost up to 80 percent of their money almost overnight.

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Helios bond funds set for liquidation

Three former Morgan Keegan bond funds that were renamed under the Helios brand when Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management acquired them are now set for liquidation, pending stockholder approval. The troubled funds were acquired after suffering significant and sudden losses during the subprime mortgage crisis.

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RMK investor awarded more than $250,000 to cover bad fund losses

Earlier this month, it was announced that Morgan Keegan & Co., the brokerage firm owned by Regions Financial Corp., would be required to repay an investor $267,711 for losses suffered by the collapse of Morgan Keegan investment funds. According to CCNMoney, this is the largest bond fund arbitration award to date.

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