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.

Read the rest of this entry »

A recent report in the Memphis Business Journal says the relationship between Regions Financial Corp., based in Birmingham, Ala., and its investment arm, Morgan Keegan & Co., located in Memphis, Tenn., has sweetened. At a recent “Investor Day” event held in New York City, the Business Journal reports company executives talked about strengthening the relationship between the two organizations, and Regions heads included Morgan Keegan as part of the company’s “strategic future.” Last December, and as recently as March of this year, there were rumors that Regions was planning to unload the investment brokerage in order to raise capital to pay back its Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) loans, and to distance itself from lawsuits aimed at alleged fraudulent investments made by Morgan Keegan.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

The Daily News, which covers Memphis, reported yesterday that class action cases against Regions Morgan Keegan (RMK) pending in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee may be consolidated under U.S. District Judge Hardy Mays. The paper reports Judge Mays issued a ruling Tuesday that answers some questions about the request, and which group or groups could be selected as lead plaintiff in that event.

Read the rest of this entry »