Law firm offers free advice to Arch Cru investors

Law firm Pannone is offering pro bono legal advice to Arch Cru investors to help them recover the millions of pounds lost in the fund range.

The pro-bono advice will be available to all Arch Cru investors regardless of the value of their investment.

Pannone said its team will advise on the best course of action for each individual and what compensation is available to them.

The specialist team is also taking on claims, on a ‘no win no fee basis', against financial advisers who recommended their clients.

Kit Sorrell, head of the specialist professional negligence team set up to help Arch Cru investors, said: "We have a large number of cases where investors were encouraged to invest many hundreds of thousands of pounds in Arch Cru believing that their life savings were in cautious, low risk funds.

"They have been sorely let down by all those concerned."

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has previously said it believes no-one may be responsible for Arch cru investors' losses.

In a letter dated 5 October seen by IFAonline, the regulator attempts to explain its endorsement of the controversial £54m payment scheme set up by Arch cru authorised corporate director Capita Financial Management, and the fund ranges' depositories, BNY Mellon Trusts and Depositories and HSBC.

Signed by Jon Gerty, solicitor for the regulator, the letter hints the FSA will be pursuing others - potentially IFAs - to provide redress beyond the 70% it has said the payment scheme will return to investors.

But in another twist in the scandal of the suspended fund range which once boasted £400m invested, but which has lost at least 40% in value, the FSA states no-one my be responsible for the millions lost by investors.

The letter reads: "...others (or even no-one) may be responsible for the losses suffered by investors, so 100% redress is not appropriate."