ATLANTA–LAWFUEL – Litigation Announcements – Chitwood Harley Harnes LLP (http://www.chitwoodlaw.com) today announced the filing of a class action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on behalf of all persons who, during the period of December 6, 2004 through November 7, 2007, purchased or otherwise acquired the shares of certain mutual funds offered by Morgan Keegan Select Fund Inc. (“MK Select”), including the Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income Fund (the “High Income Fund”) (Class A:MKHIX; Class C:RHICX; Class I:RHIIX), the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund (the “Intermediate Fund”) (Class A:MKIBX; Class C:RIBCX; Class I:RIBIX) and the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Short Term Bond Fund (the “Short Term Fund”) (Class A:MSBIX; Class C:RSTCX; Class I:MSTBX) (collectively the “Select Funds”), or shares of the RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund, Inc. (the “RHY Fund”) (RHY) (the Select Funds and the RHY Fund are collectively referred to as the “Funds”), pursuant and/or traceable to MK Select’s and the RHY Fund’s false and misleading Registration Statements and Prospectuses.
A copy of the Complaint will be available on our website, www.chitwoodlaw.com. The filing of the first class action complaint related to this matter was announced on December 6, 2007. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than this Monday, February 4, 2008 (or 60 days from December 6, 2007). If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please immediately contact plaintiffs’ counsel: Nikole Davenport of Chitwood Harley Harnes at (404) 272-8439 or via e-mail at NDavenport@chitwoodlaw.com, or Michael Peacock of Chitwood Harley Harnes at (404) 234-3488 or via e-mail at MPeacock@chitwoodlaw.com. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges the Funds’ registrants, the Funds’ administrator, Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. (“Morgan Keegan”), the Funds’ adviser, Morgan Asset Management, Inc., Regions Financial Corp. and certain of Morgan Keegan’s officers and/or directors with violations of the Securities Act of 1933.
The complaint alleges that parts of the Funds’ portfolios have been invested in collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), including CDOs backed by sub-prime mortgages to higher-risk borrowers. For years, shares of the Funds traded within narrow ranges. Then in early March 2007, as the sub-prime crisis began to emerge, the Funds began to trend lower as the market learned of their exposure to the sub-prime market. Nonetheless, the shares of the Funds continued to trade at artificially inflated prices as the full extent of the Funds’ exposure had not yet been revealed. As late as the summer of 2007, as the housing and credit crisis deepened, MK Select and the RHY Fund continued to play down and conceal the Funds’ growing exposure to the problems in the sub-prime market. Beginning in early July 2007, the Funds began to acknowledge serious problems in their portfolios related to the Funds’ exposure to the sub-prime market. Eventually, on November 7, 2007, Portfolio Manager James C. Kelsoe wrote a letter to investors in which he acknowledged the full extent of the problems the portfolios faced due to the deterioration in the housing sector and the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
As a result of this series of partial disclosures, the price of the Select Funds’ shares collapsed. The High Income Fund Class A shares closed at $4.53 per share on November 8, 2007, a decline of 51% from early July 2007. Likewise, the Intermediate Fund Class A shares closed at $5.88 per share on November 8, 2007, a decline of 38% from early July 2007. Additionally, the Short Term Fund Class A shares closed at $8.84 per share on November 8, 2007, a decline of 12% from early August 2007. The price of the RHY Fund shares also collapsed. The RHY Fund shares closed at $5.41 per share on November 8, 2007, a decline of 63% from early July 2007.
According to the complaint, the true facts which were omitted from the Registration Statements/Prospectuses were as follows: (a) the Funds lacked adequate controls and hedges to minimize the risk of loss from mortgage delinquencies which affected a large part of their portfolios; (b) the Funds’ portfolios were materially misstated due to their failure to properly value CDOs; and (c) the extent of the Funds’ risk exposure to mortgage-backed assets was misstated.
Plaintiffs seek to recover damages on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired shares of the Select Funds and/or the RHY Fund pursuant and/or traceable to MK Select’s and the RHY Fund’s false and misleading Registration Statements and Prospectuses.
Chitwood Harley Harnes LLP, a law firm that concentrates its nationwide practice in representing victims of securities fraud and corporate mismanagement, as well as other complex litigation, and has been appointed lead counsel in major class actions throughout the United States in both federal and state courts, represents holders of Class I shares of the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund (RIBIX).
