Arch lawyers attack COBS rules on final day

Lawyers representing Arch Financial Products (AFP) directors Robin Farrell and Robert Addison today suggested regulatory rules in place at the time their clients are accused of acting "recklessly" in managing the CF Arch cru fund range were unclear.

Paul Stanley QC of Essex Court Chambers said the Financial Services Authority (FSA) failed to provide the necessary guidance on how firms should manage conflicts of interest. The judge in the Upper Tribunal hearing, Tim Herrington, should take this lack of clarity into account when determining whether the FSA was right to fine and ban Farrell and Addison in 2012, Stanley said. Farrell and Addison were banned from financial services and fined a combined £850,000 by the FSA for failings related to their management of the Arch cru fund range between June 2006 and March 2009. They acte...