Labaton Sucharow LLP Announces Summary Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement and Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Labaton Sucharow LLP regarding the In re Regions Morgan Keegan Closed-End Fund Litigation.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
WESTERN DIVISION

IN RE REGIONS MORGAN KEEGAN SECURITIES, DERIVATIVE & ERISA LITIGATION
No. 09-md-02009-SHM

This Document Relates to: In re Regions Morgan Keegan Closed-End Fund Litigation,
No. 07-cv-02830 SHM dkv

SUMMARY NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION AND PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AND MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND EXPENSES

TO:       All Persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the publicly traded shares of: (i) RMK High Income Fund, Inc. ("RMH") between June 24, 2003 and July 14, 2009, inclusive, and were damaged thereby; (ii) RMK Strategic Income Fund, Inc. ("RSF") between March 18, 2004 and July 14, 2009, inclusive, and were damaged thereby; (iii) RMK Advantage Income Fund, Inc. ("RMA") between November 8, 2004 and July 14, 2009, inclusive, and were damaged thereby; (iv) RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund, Inc. ("RHY") between January 19, 2006 and July 14, 2009, inclusive, or pursuant or traceable to the Registration Statement, Prospectus, and Statement of Additional Information filed by RHY on or about January 19, 2006 with the SEC; and (v) all members of the TAL Subclass (collectively, the "Class" or "Class Members" as further defined in the Settlement Agreement).

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an order of the Court, that the Class in the above-captioned litigation ("Action") has been preliminarily certified for the purposes of settlement only and that a settlement between Lead Plaintiffs Lion Fund, L.P., Dr. J. Samir Sulieman, and Larry Lattimore ("Lead Plaintiffs") and C. Fred Daniels, in his capacity as Court-appointed Trustee Ad Litem ("TAL") for the Leroy McAbee, Sr. Family Foundation Trust (the "McAbee Foundation Trust") (the McAbee Foundation Trust together with the Lead Plaintiffs, "Plaintiffs"), on behalf of themselves and the Class and the TAL Subclass, and Defendants Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., Morgan Asset Management, Inc., MK Holding, Inc., Regions Financial Corporation, RMH, RSF, RMA, RHY, James C. Kelsoe, Jr., Carter E. Anthony, Brian B. Sullivan, Joseph Thompson Weller, Allen B. Morgan, Jr., and J. Kenneth Alderman (collectively, "Defendants"), in the amount of $62 million in cash, has been proposed by the Parties.  A full description of the Class and the Settlement can by found in the Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement and Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses (the "Notice"). 

A hearing will be held before the Honorable Samuel H. Mays, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Western Division, in the Clifford Davis/Odell Horton Federal Building, 167 North Main Street, 11th Floor, Courtroom 2, Memphis, Tennessee 38103 at 9:30 a.m. on April 12, 2013 to, among other things: determine whether the proposed Settlement should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate; determine whether the proposed Plan of Allocation for distribution of the settlement proceeds should be approved as fair and reasonable; and consider the application of Lead Counsel for an award of attorneys' fees and payment of litigation expenses.  The Court may change the date of the hearing without providing another notice. 

IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLASS, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AND YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO RECEIVE MONEY FROM THE NET SETTLEMENT FUND.  If you have not yet received the full printed Notice and a Proof of Claim and Release Form ("Proof of Claim"), you may obtain copies of these documents by contacting the Claims Administrator:

In re Regions Morgan Keegan Closed-End Fund Litigation
c/o The Garden City Group, Inc.
PO Box 9939
Dublin, Ohio 43017-5939
Phone: 1 (888) 895-9227
[email protected]
www.rmkclosedendfundsettlement.com

Inquiries, other than requests for information about the status of a claim, may also be made to Lead Counsel:

LABATON SUCHAROW LLP
Joel H. Bernstein, Esq.
David J. Goldsmith, Esq.
140 Broadway
New York, NY 10005
Tel: (888) 219-6877 
www.labaton.com
[email protected]

If you are a Class Member, to be eligible to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, you must submit a Proof of Claim to the Claims Administrator postmarked or otherwise received no later than May 20, 2013.  To exclude yourself from the Class, you must submit a written request for exclusion in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice such that it is received no later than March 22, 2013.  If you are a Class Member and do not exclude yourself from the Class, you will be bound by the Final Order and Judgment of the Court.  Any objections to the proposed Settlement, Plan of Allocation, and/or application for attorneys' fees and payment of litigation expenses must be filed with the Court and served on counsel for the Parties in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice, such that they are received no later than March 22, 2013.   

If you are a Class Member and do not timely submit a valid Proof of Claim, you will not be eligible to share in the Net Settlement Fund, but you nevertheless will be bound by the Final Order and Judgment.

SOURCE Labaton Sucharow LLP