Morgan Keegan must repay the financial losses of an elderly RMK investor, plus interest, attorneys’ fees and punitive damages, according to the January 9, 2012 Order of an arbitrator with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

The combined award of out-of-pocket losses plus punitive damages represents the maximum amount available to a claimant in a “simplified” (paperwork-only) arbitration award.

The Claimant was one of thousands of investors who lost money as a result of Morgan Keegan’s fraudulent conduct in connection with the RMK (Regions Morgan Keegan) family of bond funds.

One of the funds at issue in the case, the RMK Select Intermediate Bond Fund, is the subject of a now infamous “smoking gun” May 2007 e-mail from Gary Stringer, investment director of Morgan Keegan’s Wealth Management division, who stated: “Mr. & Mrs. Jones don’t expect that kind of risk from their bond fund. . . . I’d bet that most of the people who hold that fund have no idea what’s it’s actually invested in. I’m just as sure that most of our [Financial Advisors] have no idea what’s in that fund either.”

“We think this type of award [including punitive damages and attorney’s fees] is appropriate in all of our RMK Fund cases,” said Robert Norton, one of the Claimant’s attorneys with the firm of The Frankowski Firm, “because Morgan Keegan misled their customers about the extreme risks of what they were buying and covered up problems with the funds as they collapsed.”

“But punitive damages are especially appropriate in cases like this one where these funds were sold to an elderly customer for whom they were most obviously unsuitable,” Norton said.

If you or someone you know lost money in the RMK bond funds or in a Morgan Keegan investment, please contact the attorneys at The Frankowski Firm at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies.