[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

Morgan Keegan continues to be at odds with what it owes retired NBA basketball star Horace Grant, pursuant to a 2009 FINRA arbitration ruling.  The arbitration ended with the panel issuing Mr. Grant a $1.46 million award - damages of $1.45mn and hearing costs of $10K. 

Last week, Morgan Keegan sent Grant a check for $1.59 million, which includes pre-settlement interest of $130,000.  But Grant's lawyer believes his client is owed $333,000 more.  The difference results from lawyer Andrew Stoltman's computation of pre-settlement interest.  Using a 10% annual return since September 2009 - when the arbitration award was announced - Stoltman says his client is owed interest of $464,000.  According to Mr. Stoltman, his calculation is allowed by California law and FINRA rules. 

Why The Delay.   Following the arbitration ruling, Morgan Keegan appealed the case in state court and the case has turned into a nearly 4-year battle over bond fund losses that the brokerage took all the way to a federal appeals court in California, where it lost. 

Now, Morgan Keegan refuses to pay the difference in interest of $333,000.  This prompted Mr. Stoltman to request FINRA to immediately suspend Morgan Keegan's brokerage license for not paying Grant the full amount of his award.  

[For additional details, read our WWW story, "Arb Award For Retired NBA Star Upheld By Appeals Court".]

Morgan Keegan's Position.    The brokerage firm argues that the 10% interest rate should apply only for part of the time that the case was pending, and that a federal interest rate of 0.29% should apply for the period after a federal district court upheld the arbitration ruling in July, 2009 - that, according to lawyer Terry Weiss, who represents Morgan Keegan.

All told, more than 1,000 arbitration cases have been filed by customers who lost money on the Keegan bond funds, including Mr. Grant dispute.  Morgan Keegan paid a $200 million civil fine over the funds, and which banned a star manager at the firm from the securities industry.  Mr. Grant, 47, played in the NBA for 17 years and won 3 titles with Chicago Bulls teams featuring Michael Jordan and 1 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

For further details, go to [Reuters, 11/19/12].