Thomason Hendrix Harvey Johnson & Mitchell, PLLC Files

Class Action Suits Concerning... | Reuters

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Thomason Hendrix Harvey Johnson Mitchell, PLLC Files Class Action Suits Concerning Regions
Morgan Keegan Mutual Funds Held by Regions Trust Accounts
MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(Business Wire)-Thomason Hendrix Harvey Johnson Mitchell, PLLC announced today
that it has filed class action suits concerning certain mutual funds
of the Regions Morgan Keegan Select family of open-end funds and the
RMK family of closed-end funds held by trust, custodial and agency
accounts for which Regions Bank, doing business as Regions Morgan
Keegan Trust, is trustee, custodian or agent.
C. Fred Daniels, in his capacity as Trustee ad Litem, has
commenced five separate class action lawsuits in the United States
District Court for the Western District of Tennessee (the "Court") on
behalf of all trusts (the "Trusts") and custodial accounts (the
"Custodial Accounts") and their respective trustees, representatives,
and fiduciaries: (a) for which Regions Bank is a trustee or a directed
trustee, custodian, or agent; (b) that purchased, otherwise acquired
or held certain of the Regions Morgan Keegan Select proprietary mutual
fund family of open-end funds, and/or the RMK proprietary mutual fund
family of closed-end funds (collectively referred to as the "Funds")
during the period from December 6, 2004 (January 23, 2006, in the case
of the RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund) through February 6, 2008
(the "Class Period"); and (c) which are effectively excluded from, or

are inadequately protected by, previously-filed class actions relating

to the Funds (the "Previous Class Actions").
The Funds and their respective trading symbols are as follows:
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Regions Morgan Keegan Select Funds:
Select High Income Fund (MKHIX, RHICX, RHIIX)
Select Intermediate Bond Fund (MKIBX, RIBCX, RIBIX)
Select Short-Term Bond Fund (MSBIX, RSTCX, MSTBX)
RMK Funds:

RMK Advantage Income Fund (RMA)

RMK High Income Fund (RMH)
RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund (RHY)
RMK Strategic Income Fund (RSF)
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The Trustee ad Litem
These actions are brought by a special fiduciary (referred to as a
"Trustee ad Litem") appointed by the Probate Court of Jefferson
County, Alabama (the "Probate Court") for the limited and specific
purposes of monitoring, evaluating, and participating in the Previous
Class Actions and taking any and all appropriate actions on behalf of
the Trusts and the Custodial Accounts relating to the Funds. The
Probate Court's appointment of the Trustee ad Litem resulted from
Regions Bank's conflict of interest between its interests as a
defendant in one or more of the Previous Class Actions (and as an

affiliate of other defendants in the Previous Class Actions) on the

one hand, and its interests and duties as a fiduciary for Trusts and
Custodial Accounts that purchased, otherwise acquired, or held, shares
of one or more of the Funds on the other hand. The Probate Court's
Order dated June 9, 2008 and Amended Order Appointing Trustee ad Litem
dated June 20, 2008 (the "Appointment Order"), appointed C. Fred
Daniels as Trustee ad Litem. Mr. Daniels is an attorney with
substantial experience in trust law and is a partner with the law firm
of Cabaniss, Johnston, Gardner, Dumas O'Neal LLP. The Probate Court
proceeding is styled In re Regions Bank, d/b/a Regions Morgan Keegan
Trust, Probate Court of Jefferson County, Alabama, Case no. 200853.

Additional information about the Probate Court proceeding and the

Trustee ad Litem is available at www.RMKlawsuit.com.
The Reason for Filing These Actions
It is uncertain whether the Previous Class Actions include the
Trust and Custodial Accounts as members of the respective putative
classes, or otherwise adequately protect the interests of the Trust

and Custodial Accounts, and the Trustee ad Litem therefore has filed
these class actions for the benefit of the Trust and Custodial
Accounts as a precaution. By filing these actions, neither the Trustee
ad Litem nor the Representative Plaintiff Trusts named as such in the
complaints acknowledge, contend, or assert that any of the
Representative Plaintiff Trusts or other Trusts or Custodial Accounts
(or their respective trustees, representatives, and fiduciaries)
otherwise included in the class defined above are in fact excluded
from the Previous Class Actions. Rather, these actions were filed to
further the purposes of the Appointment Order, i.e., to protect the
interests of the Trusts and Custodial Accounts. As explained in more
detail below, this notice is similarly being published as a
precaution.
Allegations of the Complaints
The various complaints name as defendants Morgan Keegan Asset
Management, Inc., the Funds' investment advisor, Morgan Keegan
Company, Inc., the distributor of the Funds' shares, their officers
and directors, Regions Financial Holdings, Inc. and their parent
corporation Regions Financial Corporation, and the Funds' accounting
firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. The RMK Funds are also defendants in
the suits affecting those respective Funds. Not all these persons or
entities are named as defendants in all the complaints. While there
are different specific legal and factual allegations in each of the
five complaints, generally the various complaints allege that the
defendants violated the disclosure and/or anti-fraud requirements of
federal securities laws and in some instances the Investment Company

Act. The Funds and the defendants misrepresented or failed to disclose

material facts relating to (i) the nature of the risks 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 their estimated values 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, (vi) the concentration of investments in a single
industry and (vii) the net asset values of the Funds.
The complaints allege that as a result of the eventual disclosures
and partial disclosures of these misstatements and omissions, the
prices of the Funds declined significantly. Prices on December 6, 2004
(January 23, 2006 in the case of the RMK Multi-Sector High Income
Fund), before the true facts were known, and after the facts were
known, on February 6, 2008, were as follows:
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Percentage
Before After loss in value
Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income
Fund

(class A shares) $10.76 $2.94 (72.7%)

Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate
Bond Fund (class A shares) 10.09 3.52 (65.1%)
Regions Morgan Keegan Select Short-Term
Bond Fund (class A shares) 10.16 8.15 (19.8%)
RMK Advantage Income Fund 15.82 4.10 (74.1%)
RMK High Income Fund 18.20 4.20 (76.9%)
RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund 15.50 4.35 (71.9%)
RMK Strategic Income Fund 16.60 3.90 (74.7%)
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Purpose of This Notice
This notice is being published pursuant to the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which requires that a plaintiff in a
securities class action publish a notice advising members of the
purported class that, among other things, any member of the purported
class may move the court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class. If
it is determined that the Previous Class Actions do in fact exclude or
fail to adequately protect the Trust and Custodial Accounts as members
of the respective putative classes, then it will be necessary for each
of the class actions filed by the Trustee ad Litem to proceed through
lead plaintiffs. A lead https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y88Hx3bx2vw plaintiff is a representative
party that acts
on behalf other class members in directing the litigation. In this
instance, the purported classes are composed of Trusts and Custodial
Accounts, many of which, as a matter of law, can only bring the type
of claims being made in these class actions through the trustee, and

therefore the Trustee ad Litem has acted to bring these claims on

their behalf. However, certain other of the Trusts and Custodial
Accounts may act through other persons, and therefore there are
persons with interests in the Trusts and Custodial Accounts who have
the legal capacity to serve as a lead plaintiff if they choose to do
so. Whether a person with an interest in one of the affected Trusts or
Custodial Accounts has the legal capacity to serve as a lead plaintiff
must be determined on an individual basis, but generally these persons
would be co-trustees of Trusts, settlors (also known as grantors) of
revocable Trusts, or principals of Custodial Accounts. Persons who
generally do not have the legal capacity to act on behalf of the Trust
or Custodial Account in this type of matter--and who therefore cannot
serve as lead plaintiff--are beneficiaries of Trusts (whether current
beneficiaries or those who may become beneficiaries in the future),
settlors (also known as grantors) of irrevocable Trusts, and
beneficiaries or other persons with interests in Custodial Accounts
other than as principals.
If (1) a Regions Morgan Keegan Trust or Custodial Account in which
you have an interest is a member of one of the classes described
above, and (2) you are a co-trustee of a Trust, the settlor or grantor
of a revocable Trust, or a principal of a Custodial Account, you may,
not later than September 29, 2008, move the Court to serve as lead
plaintiff of a class or classes of which you (or the Trust(s) or
Custodial Account(s) you represent) are a member, if you chose to do
so. To be appointed a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that
your Trust or Custodial Account's claim is typical of the claims of

other class members, and that the class member will adequately
represent the class. Under certain circumstances multiple class
members may serve together as lead plaintiff. Your Trust or Custodial
Account's ability to http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/12-simple-steps-estate-plan-29472.html
share in any recovery will not be affected by the
decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Any member of a
purported class who has the legal capacity to act on behalf of the
Trust or Custodial Account(s) in which he, she or it has an interest
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.
If it is eventually determined that the Previous Class Actions do
include and adequately protect the Trust and Custodial Accounts as
members of the respective putative classes, and/or if the class
actions filed by the Trustee ad Litem are consolidated with the
Previous Class Actions, it is possible--and the Trustee ad Litem
presently believes this is likely--that the Trusts and Custodial
Accounts will not exist as separate classes or subclasses, and
therefore there may be no need for lead plaintiffs to represent the
interests of the Trusts and Custodial Accounts in this litigation.
Additional Information
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The case names and docket numbers of the lawsuits filed by the Trustee
ad Litem are:
Relating to all three of the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Funds:
C. Fred Daniels, As Trustee Ad Litem For The George E. Von

Gal III, Intervivos Q-Tip Trust Under Agreement, et al., v.

Morgan Asset Management, Inc., et al., Case no. 2:08-cv02454-SHM-tmp

Relating to the RMK Advantage Income Fund:

C. Fred Daniels, as Trustee ad Litem for The Harold G. McAbee
Family Trust, et al. v. Morgan Keegan Co., Inc., et al.,
Case no. 2:08-cv-02453-SHM-tmp
Relating to the RMK High Income Fund:
C. Fred Daniels, as Trustee ad Litem for The Harold G. McAbee
Family Trust, et al. v. Morgan Keegan Co., Inc., et al.,
Case no 2:08-cv-02452-SHM-tmp
Relating to the RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund:
C. Fred Daniels, as Trustee ad Litem for The Alice C. Cade
Trust for the Benefit of Carroll Corbin Bays, et al., v.
Morgan Keegan Co., Inc., et al., Case no 2:08-cv-02456SHM-tmp
Relating to the RMK Strategic Income Fund:
C. Fred Daniels, as Trustee ad Litem for KPS Group, Inc.,
Profit Sharing Retirement Plan, et al. v. Morgan Keegan
Co., Inc., et al., Case no. 2:08-cv-02455-SHM-tmp
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The Trustee ad Litem may be contacted as follows:

Trustee ad Litem for Regions Morgan Keegan

Trust and Custodial Accounts
P.O. Box 830612
Birmingham, AL 35283-0612
Toll-free telephone: 1.800.253.4248
Email: trustee@rmklawsuit.com
For additional information concerning the class actions, contact:
Albert C. Harvey
Thomason, Hendrix, Harvey, Johnson, Mitchell, PLLC
One Commerce Square, 29th Floor
Memphis, TN 38103
Telephone 901-525-8721
Fax 901-525-6722
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Thomason, Hendrix, Harvey, Johnson, Mitchell, PLLC
Albert C. Harvey, 901-525-8721
Fax: 901-525-6722
Copyright Business Wire 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/31/idUS206878+31-Jul-2008+BW20080731
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