› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
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.
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.
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.
Today the Birmingham Business Journal reported that Regions Financial Corp., which is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., is selling off its 11 Regions Morgan Keegan (RMK) Select Funds. These funds are currently managed by Regions’ investment arm, Morgan Keegan & Co., based in Memphis. The funds will be sold to Pioneer Investment Managment, Inc., the Journal reports.
Today The Birmingham (Ala.) News reported that Morgan Keegan & Co., the investment arm of Regions Financial Corp., has purchased an investment bank, Burke Capital Group, based in Atlanta. The sale price was not released. Regions Financial Corp. is based in Birmingham.
According to its company web site, Burke Capital Group is an independent investment banking firm that provides “superior corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions advisory services to financial institutions and middle market companies.” The company was founded in 1995. In 2006, the SNL Financial’s Bank M&A Scoreboard listed Burke at No. 1 among the Top Southeast regional financial advisers for the third quarter.
Regions Morgan Keegan has been staggering since late 2007 when it was revealed that a number of its investment funds that were presented as low-risk had actually been tied to the volatile subprime mortgage lending market. When the mortgage industry collapsed, investors found their portfolios devalued literally overnight, resulting in massive losses.
In August, Hyperion Brookfield, based in New York, NY, took over the management of three open-end funds and four closed-end funds that had been managed by Morgan Asset Managment, an arm of Morgan Keegan, which is based in Memphis. Morgan Asset Management is owned by Regions Financial Corp.
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.
After seven Regions Morgan Keegan investment funds took a nose dive because of their ties to the subprime mortgage lending crisis, stockholders found themselves holding greatly devalued portfolios. Because the funds had been initially represented as low-risk, when in actuality they were tied to the volatile subprime lending market, stockholders are bringing suit against Regions Morgan Keegan for their losses. Now, the investment portfolios have a new manager, Hyperion Brookfield Asset Manager.
A combination of defaulted loans in the plunging housing market and unique woes with its Morgan Keegan & Co. investment arm caused shares of Regions Financial Corp. stock to plunge 73 percent in the past year, according to a report in The Birmingham News. The company is headquartered in Birmingham.
The Birmingham News reported this week that Regions Financial Corp. may cut its dividend to shareholders as a result of defaulting real estate loans and a series of lawsuits in relation to Morgan Keegan investment fraud. Morgan Keegan is a subsidiary of Regions, as a brokerage unit. The dividend reduction was predicted by Standard & Poor’s Corp.
Currently, the News reports, Regions’ 38-cent quarterly dividend yields around 11 percent. The paper said banks are reducing dividends across the industry, largely due to the crisis in the housing market, as losses from home loans continue to climb.
In February, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported one of its locally based companies, CountryMark Cooperative, was joining the lawsuit against Morgan Keegan, which it says fraudulently invested funds in high-risk mortgaged-based securities. CountryMark alleges misrepresentation of funds, saying Morgan Keegan presented its investment portfolio as low-risk.
