NEW YORK, May 27, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Napoli Bern Ripka, LLP and Sonn & Erez, PLC applied for temporary Lead Plaintiff status after filing a class action lawsuit on April 8, 2010 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis Division, on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired shares in the Regions Morgan Keegan closed-end bond funds (collectively, "RMK Funds") between December 6, 2004 and February 6, 2008:
- RMK High Income Fund – RMH (Now HIH)
- RMK Strategic Income Fund – RSF (Now HSA)
- RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund – RHY (Now HMH)
- RMK Advantage Income Fund – RMA (Now HAV)
The complaint alleges that Morgan Keegan, its affiliates and employees misled its brokerage clients and individual investors as to the risks the RMK Funds took to seek returns. The RMK Funds invested a substantial portion of their assets in high-risk structured products that were highly speculative and illiquid without disclosing these risks to the investing public.
Plaintiffs contend that the RMK Fund's losses were not caused by a downturn in the economy but instead were caused by heavy concentrations in low priority investments that placed investors in a vulnerable position. Due to the low priority positions, the RMK Funds bore incredible risks of loss. The compliant further alleges that Morgan Keegan affirmatively misled investors into believing that the RMK Fund's contained diverse higher quality assets through misclassifications of hundreds of millions of dollars in the Funds assets, inappropriate benchmark comparisons to a corporate bond index, and artificially creating stable net asset values through misleading asset valuations. The lead Plaintiffs allege they lost millions of dollars.
Due to these misleading practices, Morgan Keegan is currently the subject of numerous State, SEC, and FINRA investigations and regulatory lawsuits. In addition, Morgan Keegan has been a named Respondent in hundreds of FINRA arbitrations across the country for investor losses suffered due to the collapse of the RMK Funds. Other class actions were filed previously, but those cases languished. Plaintiffs filed their claim to protect the interest of all closed-end fund investors who lost billions in RMK-branded bond funds.
Napoli Bern Ripka, LLP and Sonn & Erez, PLC have been highly successful in arbitrating claims on behalf of hundreds of investors that have been misled by Morgan Keegan. With numerous FINRA arbitrations filed on behalf of our clients, Napoli Bern Ripka, and Sonn & Erez are recognized leaders in advocating for defrauded investors. If you, your company, or pension fund purchased any of these funds and have suffered a significant financial loss as a result, please feel free to call us for more information.
If you have lost money in any of the RMK Funds or have any questions about the lawsuit, please contact Marc Bern, Esq. or Adam J. Gana Esq., of Napoli Bern Ripka, LLP at 212-267-2700, or via email at Agana@nbrlawfirm.com. You can also contact Jeff Sonn, Esq. or Scott Adkins, Esq. of Sonn & Erez, PLC at 866-372-8311 or via email at jsonn@sonnerez.com.