Last week we reported on the FCA’s recent success at trial against pensions introducers Avacade and Alexandra Associates with the High Court deciding that Avacade and Alexandra had provided unregulated pensions advisory services to consumers.
It has now emerged that Alexandra and its directors have asked the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the High Court’s decision on the basis that Alexandra was a mere introducer and should not be liable for investors’ losses.
Solicitors for two of Alexandra’s directors have suggested that there are 27 grounds on which the Deputy Judge, Andrew Johnson QC, made errors of law when reaching his judgment. It is likely that the Court of Appeal will consider the application for permission to appeal (which was orginally refused by the High Court) in the next few months.
In other developments, Alexandra applied for Andrew Johnson QC to recuse himself from further involvment in the case (FCA applications for injunctions and directions for a second trial focussing on investors’ losses) on the basis that the FCA is a client of Andrew Johnson QC’s firm, Herbert Smith Freehills. Since that application Andrew Johnson QC has agreed to remove himself from any future involvment in the case.