FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 7, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Region Financial Corp.'s (NYSE:RF) Morgan Keegan & Company was hit with fraud charges today by state regulators, the SEC, and as well as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) relating to the sale of proprietary Regions Morgan Keegan (RMK) Bond Funds, says Sonn & Erez PLC, a law firm representing many Morgan Keegan bond fund investors. State regulators from Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky and South Carolina charged that Morgan Keegan, its sister company Morgan Asset Management, and certain employees violated the states' securities' laws by making misrepresentations and failing to disclose the true risks of the RMK bond funds to investors. At the same time, the SEC charged that Morgan Keegan and Morgan Asset Management violated federal securities laws by misvaluing and misrepresenting the true value of the holdings of six RMK bond funds to investors during 2007. Moreover, FINRA, the financial industry's self-regulatory organization, charged that Morgan Keegan and others violated FINRA regulations. Jeffrey Sonn, Esq., an attorney for many Morgan Keegan investors, said, "These charges by state and federal regulators show what we have been saying all along in our cases for investors, that Morgan Keegan misled their clients that their RMK funds were safe bond funds when in fact they were dangerous funds that heavily invested in toxic waste assets." Sonn & Erez PLC has prevailed in several arbitration cases for investors, including a $1.1 million verdict last month in Alabama.
The Morgan Keegan bond funds that are the subject of hundreds of investor arbitrations include the following: Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income, RMK High Income Fund, RMK Strategic Income Fund, Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund, RMK Multi-Sector High Income and RMK Advantage Income.
Sonn & Erez, PLC is representing numerous Morgan Keegan bond fund investors. Investors seeking more information may contact Jeffrey Sonn or Jeffrey Erez at Sonn and Erez PLC.