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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Yesterday a judge upheld the decision made last fall that holds Morgan Keegan responsible for a $1.4 million loss by investor Horace Grant. The retired Chicago Bulls basketball star sued Regions Morgan Keegan for losses resulting from his investments in mutual funds recommended by the financial management company. Morgan Keegan appealed the decision, saying arbitrators had already made up their minds against the investment company when they heard the case.

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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.

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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Three former Regions Morgan Keegan bond funds that were renamed under the Helios brand when Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management acquired them are now set for liquidation, pending stockholder approval. The troubled funds were acquired after suffering significant and sudden losses during the subprime mortgage crisis.

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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.

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The Memphis Daily News recently reported that Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management, which in July took over administration of seven Regions Morgan Keegan funds under fire for misrepresentation, will liquidate one of the funds, pending shareholder approval. The fund in question is the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Short Term Bond Fund.

Hyperion took over management of the Morgan Keegan investment arm of Regions after several funds suffered steep and sudden drops in value as a result of their connection to the subprime mortgage securities market.

On Dec. 30, the Daily News announced that Hyperion had changed the names of seven former RMK investment funds, now calling them Helios funds, reflecting the change in management, and of course removing the stigma of the RMK investment debacle.

Sales of the Select Short Term Bond Fund shares to new investors will stop effective Jan. 23.

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

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.

Chuck Jaffe, a senior columnist for MarketWatch, put Regions Morgan Keegan on his 13th annual Lump of Coal Awards list, which points out those companies and individuals who he believes should be on Santa’s “naughty” list in the world of investment funds. The list was published today on SFGate, an online publication of the San Francisco Chronicle.

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