We represented Morgan Keegan & Co. in two cases brought by individual investors in certain Morgan Keegan Funds stemming from investment fund company losses in the wake of the global credit crisis. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in a case of first impression for it, ruled that the plaintiffs had waited too long to file suit and their claims were therefore barred by the three- and five-year statutes of repose under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, respectively. The decision contributed to a circuit split over the issue of whether a securities plaintiff can rely on a pending class action to toll a repose period, which recently came before the Supreme Court.
The cases are Stein v. Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income Fund Inc. and Starnes v. Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income Fund Inc., case numbers 15-5903 and 15-5905, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The case was covered by various media outlets, including:
- “Claims Against Morgan Keegan Funds Untimely, 6th Cir. Says,” Bloomberg BNA (May 23, 2016) subscription required
- “6th Circ. Says Morgan Keegan Investors Can’t Pause Clock,” Law360 (May 19, 2016)
Morgan Keegan (formerly NYSE: MOR) was a national broker-dealer institution. In April 2012, Morgan Keegan & Co was acquired by Raymond James Financial.