MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 6, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. filed a class action lawsuit against Morgan Asset Management, Inc., Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., MK Holding, Inc., Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and certain individuals, officers and directors associated with the above entities in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, on behalf of investors who purchased shares of the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund ("MKIBX") and Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income Fund ("RHIIX") from December 6, 2004 through October 3, 2007 (the "Class Period").
The Complaint alleges that Funds and the defendants misrepresented or failed to disclose material facts relating to (i) the nature of the risk being assumed by an investment in the Funds, (ii) the illiquidity of certain securities in which the Funds invested, (iii) the extent to which the Funds' portfolios contained securities that were illiquid or exhibited the characteristics of illiquid securities so that they were highly vulnerable to suddenly becoming unsalable at the prices at which they were being carried on the Funds' records, (iv) the extent to which the Funds' portfolios were subject to fair value procedures, (v) the extent to which the values of such securities, and, consequently, the net asset values of the Funds, were based on estimates of value and the uncertainty inherent in such estimated values, and (vi) the concentration of investments in a single industry in excess of investment restrictions to which the Funds were subject.
As of November 23, 2007, Morningstar reported RHIIX's NAV was down almost 55% year-to-date; from December 31, 2006 until November 30, 2007, the RHIIX's NAV per share declined from $10.14 to $3.91 for a loss of $6.23 per share, or 61.4%. For the same period, Morningstar reported MKIBX's NAV was down over 43%; MKIBX's NAV per share declined from $9.93 to $5.07 for a loss of $4.86 per share or 48.9%. The Complaint alleges that these extraordinary losses in share value were caused by the Funds' heavy investment in relatively new types of manufactured or structured fixed income securities that had not been tested through market cycles and by the failure of the Funds to have previously complied with required and disclosed procedures relating to the manner in which the Funds' assets were invested, the liquidity of their assets would be maintained, the lack of liquidity in the Funds' portfolios, the valuation procedures used to price their assets, the uncertainty inherent in the estimated value of their assets, violations of the Funds' investment restrictions on illiquid securities and investments in a single industry, and/or the failure to disclose such breaches and failures and conditions in the Funds' portfolios that rendered them extraordinarily vulnerable to changes in market conditions, far more vulnerable than other intermediate bond and high income funds affected by the same events and conditions in the subprime and other markets in 2007.
The Funds revealed, for the first time, on October 3, 2007 that, as of June 30, 2006, and June 30, 2007, the magnitude of the Funds' securities that were fair valued and were, therefore, illiquid securities. For MKIBX, it was disclosed that 55.8% of its investment securities were fair valued at June 30, 2006, and 50.4% at June 30, 2007. For RHIIX, it was disclosed that 49.5% of its investment securities were fair valued at June 30, 2006, and 59.7% at June 30, 2007.
If you purchased or acquired shares of either the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund ("MKIBX") or the Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income Fund ("RHIIX") during the Class Period, you may move the Court, no later than February 4, 2008, to be appointed Lead Plaintiff. Your share in any recovery will not be enhanced or diminished by the decision whether or not to serve as Lead Plaintiff.
For more information, please contact:
Gregg M. Fishbein, Esq. (gmfishbein@locklaw.com) Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. 100 Washington Avenue South, Suite 2200 Minneapolis, MN 55401 (612) 339-6900
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primenewswire.com/ca.