According to a report in the Memphis Daily News, more than 300,000 investors lost over a billion dollars when the subprime mortgage meltdown drained the funds seemingly overnight. Morgan Keegan has been plagued with litigation and arbitration claims from investors throughout the country. The bulk of arbitration claims reviewed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have gone in favor of the investors.

The settlement will include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), FINRA and the states that participated in the civil fraud investigation into Morgan Keegan investment firm – Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Funds will be distributed to investors who lost money after an administrator identifies and evaluates their claims. The funds will be available to investors in any state, not only the five who participated in the settlement.

On the heels of the settlement announcement, the head of Regions Financial Corp. announced the company would begin to look at options for its investment portfolio, which may include the sale of the Morgan Keegan investment arm.

SOURCE: Morgan Keegan Investment Fraud › Regions eyes Morgan Keegan sale as investment arm settles Fraud claims

Regions is struggling under a second quarter reported loss of $335 million, and some watching the industry felt the company would be unable to absorb more losses and legal fees related to the Morgan Keegan lawsuits. As a result of the litigation, which involves proprietary Regions Morgan Keegan investment funds, Morgan Keegan racked up $161 million in legal fees last year, a jump of 44 percent over the previous year. The lawsuits allege the Regions Morgan Keegan funds were presented to investors as low-risk, but were actually tied to the volatile mortgage lending market. When the bottom fell out of that sector, many investors lost substantial amounts, almost overnight.

However, Regions and Morgan Keegan have recently partnered on a new investment banking division that more closely ties the financial institution with the investment brokerage. It is believed that this new relationship is already proving profitable by allowing Regions to leverage existing relationships with investment banking clients, the Business Journal reports.

An administrative hearing to discuss allegations of fraud against Morgan Keegan & Co. has been set for Oct. 5 in Montgomery, Ala. The administrative action is the culmination of a multi-state investigation involving six mutual funds sold by Morgan Keegan broker dealers to approximately 13,000 customers. The six mutual funds lost approximately $2 billion in value from March 31, 2007 to March 31, 2008. The Joint Administrative hearing includes Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky, and will be held at the offices of the Alabama Securities Commission in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010 beginning at 9 a.m. CST.

SOURCE: Morgan Keegan Investment Fraud › Regions, Morgan Keegan relationship stronger despite legal woes

The administrative action is the culmination of a multi-state investigation involving six mutual funds sold by Morgan Keegan broker dealers to approximately 13,000 customers. Those six mutual funds lost approximately $2 billion in value from March 31, 2007 to March 31, 2008.

The states of Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and South Carolina, along with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced administrative actions against Morgan Keegan, which is based in Memphis, Tenn., on April 7.

The Joint Administrative hearing includes Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky, and will be held at the offices of the Alabama Securities Commission in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010 beginning at 9 a.m. CST. The hearing was requested by attorneys representing Morgan Keegan, Morgan Asset Management, James C. Kelsoe, Jr., Brian B. Sullivan, Gary S. Stringer and Michele F. Wood as Respondents.

SOURCE: Morgan Keegan Investment Fraud › Morgan Keegan hearing set for October in Montgomery, Ala.

Hundreds of investors lost significant amounts of money nearly overnight as a result of monies invested in mortgage-backed funds that collapsed in the subprime lending crisis. Lawsuits against Regions Morgan Keegan allege the funds were represented to investors as low-risk preferred stocks and corporate bonds, when in fact they were some of the most risky investments available.

According to the CNNMoney report, this is the fifth straight Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration award against Morgan Keegan for these proprietary bond funds. Previous award have included $50,000 to an Alabama retiree who lost his savings, and $187,000 to compensate a farmer with losses of $100,000 in the funds.

The most recent verdict sets a precedent for remaining pending arbitration lawsuits against the company.

SOURCE: Morgan Keegan Investment Fraud › RMK investor awarded more than $250,000 to cover bad fund losses

According to the report, Morgan Keegan directed the farmer-owned co-op toward a $10 million investment in mortgage-backed securities, including subprime.

CountryMark purchased the note on Aug. 10, 2007. Seven days later, ratings agencies downgraded the A+-rated investment to junk status and it remains in default.

CountryMark is suing Memphis-based Morgan Keegan, a division of Alabama-based Regions Financial Corp., to recover the purchase price, interest and attorney’s fees. In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, the company says Morgan Keegan failed to disclose the investment was substantially backed by subprime and midprime mortgages–a risky bet that ran counter to the group’s investment objective. Financial institutions nationwide have written off more than $100 billion such investments, and many more writedowns are expected.

“We have been let down by Morgan Keegan in so many ways,” Charlie Smith, CountryMark’s CEO, said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Morgan Keegan says the company was merely a middleman in the transaction, selling a “Golden Key” security underwritten by Merrill Lynch.

“The commercial paper at issue in this suit had the highest available commercial paper rating ‘A-1+’ by Standard & Poor’s,” said Kathy Ridley, in an e-mailed statement. “Morgan Keegan acted only as a distributor in this transaction, buying the securities from Merrill Lynch, who was the underwriter, and then reselling them to CountryMark. Shortly after the sale this issue defaulted, a rare and unexpected occurrence with such a highly rated issue.”

CountryMark isn’t the only local company to feel stung by investment advice from Morgan Keegan. The Indiana Children’s Wish Fund, which grants wishes for terminally ill children, lost about $48,000 after a Morgan Keegan adviser suggested the group invest $223,000 in an intermediate-bond fund in June 2007.

The fund, which included mortgage-related securities, fell 22 percent before the Wish Fund yanked its investment. The Wish Fund eventually recovered its loss after filing an arbitration claim.

SOURCE: Morgan Keegan Investment Fraud › CountryMark Losses