Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc., an investment brokerage owned by Regions Financial Corp., has announced a $200 million settlement in relation to charges of consumer fraud stemming from investments tied to the mortgage bond market. The company has been battling numerous lawsuits brought on behalf of clients that allege Morgan Keegan falsely represented proprietary mutual funds as “low risk” investments when they were actually tied to the volatile mortgage market.

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On 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 Regions 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.

A recent news release published on the Class Action Newsline reports Regions 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 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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Regions 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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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 Regions Morgan Keegan investment funds. According to CCNMoney, this is the largest bond fund arbitration award to date.

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Noted baseball announcer Tim McCarver, who entered an arbitration case against Morgan Keegan & Co. in November 2008 claiming $1.6 million in losses has received $100,000 in compensatory damages, The Memphis Daily News reports.

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According to a report in the Memphis Commercial Appeal today, seven former Regions Morgan Keegan investment funds have changed their names, and six have new trading symbols. The changes reflect the change in management from Regions Financial to Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management, which took over the troubled investment arm in July. Each fund name now starts with Helio, which is Hyperion’s brand name.

The Commercial Appeal quotes Marion Hayes, a spokesperson for Hyperion, as saying, “It’s not right for these funds to be named Regions Morgan Keegan funds when they’re managed by us.”

The change affects four closed-end funds and three open-end funds. Hyperion took over management of the Morgan Keegan investment arm from Regions after several funds suffered steep and sudden drops in value as a result of their connection to the subprime mortgage securities market.

Following is a list of the changes:

Former RMK funds:
Helios Advantage Income Fund: From RMA to HAV
Helios High Income Fund: From RMH to HIH
Helios Multi-Sector High Income Fund: From RHY to HMH
Helios Strategic Income Fund: From RSF to HSA

Former Regions-Morgan Keegan Select funds:
Helios Select High Income Fund: From MKHIX to HIFAX
Helios Select Intermediate Income Fund: From MKIBX to HSIBX
Helios Select Short Term Bond Fund: MSBIX, no change

The New York Post reported an exclusive item on Sunday, saying former Major League Baseball catcher and current sports broadcaster Tim McCarver has entered an arbitration case against Morgan Keegan & Co. for losses totaling about $1 million.

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On Aug. 18, we reported that Regions Morgan Keegan had shifted management of its seven failed investment funds to Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management company. This week, a report in the Memphis Commercial Appeal said the new managers have begun reworking the funds, but in a conference call with investors would not make any guarantees about results.

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