In his 27-page opinion, U.S. District Judge S. James Otero disagreed with Morgan Keegan, and sided with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which is acting as arbitrator in these cases. According to a report in the Memphis Daily News, the judge said Morgan Keegan – which is based in Memphis – did not have sufficient grounds to challenge the award, which was presented in September 2009 and reported on this blog.

Grant’s case is one of many filed against Regions Morgan Keegan. The lawsuits allege Morgan Keegan brokers misrepresented a number of its funds as low-risk, when the funds were actually tied to the volatile subprime mortgage market. When the real estate market crashed, the funds lost up to 80 percent of their value, almost overnight.

Court documents reveal that during a discussion of the case during a break, arbitrators said, among other things, “This fund – these funds were a sucker play,” according to the news report.

SOURCE: Morgan Keegan Investment Fraud › Judge upholds $1.4 million award for Morgan Keegan investment loss

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.

SOURCE: Morgan Keegan Investment Fraud › FINRA awards $1.4 million to NBA star for Regions Morgan Keegan losses