ATLANTA, June 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On June 19, 2009, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel awarded $115,000 in damages, attorney's fees, costs, and forum fees to an 83-year old widow against Regions Financial Corp.'s (RF) brokerage unit, Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. The case is Muller v. Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., FINRA Case No. 08-03064. The decision included an award of $30,000 of attorney's fees made under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, Tenn. Code Ann. # 47-18-109 for Morgan Keegan's "unfair or deceptive acts or practices." The Claimant, now 83 and widowed, is a Pennsylvania resident and was sold the mutual fund over the telephone. The fund found subject to the unfair and deceptive practices was the Morgan Keegan's Select High Income Fund (MKHIX), now the Helios Select High Income Fund (HIFAX).
Firm principal Jim Dunlap commented on the award saying, "We've now won 100% of cases brought before a live panel. In this case, we proved that the Morgan Keegan mutual fund was not really a "junk bond fund" as it was marketed, but rather, a mutual fund filled with far riskier "structured products" that became near-worthless "toxic waste." The fact that this mutual fund was sold to any conservative investor is outrageous. This case had a number of difficulties, including the fact that the claim was brought more than six years after the first purchases of the fund, that the dividends received on the fund exceeded the amount of the principal loss, and evidence the Claimant's husband, now deceased, had Series 6 brokerage license training. However, we were able to prove Morgan Keegan's unfair and deceptive practices in the marketing and selling of this fund. In awarding $50,000 in attorney's fees and costs, and also ordering Morgan Keegan to pay 100% of the forum fees of $15,000, the panel sent a stern message to Morgan Keegan what it thought of its claims of innocence in the case." Morgan Keegan was represented at the hearing by three attorneys at Bass, Berry & Sims PLC, of Memphis, Tennessee.
Firm principal Jim Dunlap added, "I encourage anyone who has sustained a loss in any of the Morgan Keegan high-yield bond funds not only to contact their attorney to begin recovery proceedings, but to make a written complaint to FINRA, the SEC, and their state securities regulator about the harm caused by these horrible funds sold by Morgan Keegan. Regulators need to take action and they won't unless enough victims make their voices heard. All attorneys representing claimants against Morgan Keegan need to include a TCPA claim which provides a negligence standard of recovery and allows recovery of attorney's fees and costs."
James A. Dunlap Jr. & Associates LLC and affiliated attorneys have filed arbitration claims on behalf of other investors in the Regions Morgan Keegan Bond Funds. The arbitration claims involve losses in the Morgan Keegan High-Yield Funds which have recently changed names as follows:
Formerly RMK High Income Fund -- RMH/Now Helios High Income Fund -- HIH Formerly RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund -- RHY/Now Helios Multi-Sector High Income Fund -- HMH Formerly RMK Advantage Income Fund -- RMA/Now Helios Advantage Income Fund -- HAV Formerly RMK Strategic Income Fund -- RSF/Now Helios Strategic Income Fund -- HSA Formerly Regions MK Select High Income-C -- RHICX Formerly Regions MK Select High Income-A -- MKHIX/Now Helios Select High Income Fund -- HIFAX Formerly RHIIX -- Regions MK Select High Income-I Formerly RIBCX -- Regions MK Select Intermediate Bond Fund-C Formerly Regions MK Select Intermediate Bond Fund -- MKIBX/Now Helios Select Intermediate Income Fund -- HSIBX Formerly RIBIX Regions MK Select Intermediate Bond Fund-I
Specific information about the Morgan Keegan fund claims can be reviewed at http://www.jamesdunlaplaw.com/cms.php?id=36.
If you lost $100,000 or more in the Morgan Keegan Bond Funds, please contact James A. Dunlap Jr., Esquire, of James A. Dunlap Jr. & Associates LLC at 404-354-2363, for a free consultation. You may visit the firm's web site at http://www.jamesdunlaplaw.com.