After appearing 101 times in the NSW Supreme Court, lawyers on both sides of a class action being run against Bank of Queensland by some of its former owner-managed branch (OMB) franchisees have made their final submissions in open court.Both sides took the opportunity to re-iterate arguments that have been made over the previous court appearances, in their written submissions, and oral evidence from witnesses over the past year.Yesterday, Nigel Cotman, barrister for the owner managers and their companies, continued his attack from the day before, calling into question the assumptions underpinning the bank's model for expansion into NSW, which was launched in 2004.Under BOQ's model, it was estimated that OMBs would need to write, on average, $4 million in new loans and take up to $2 million in deposits just to break even. These assumptions have been consistently called into question as being based on flimsy assumptions.Yesterday, Cotman went further noting that if BOQ had expanded into NSW using their own branch network and staff, they would be "gambling with their own money" as to how long this would take to become a viable business. To use OMBs, and require prospective franchisees to show they were suitably qualified, and to require them to use their own money was "a horse of an entirely different colour," Cotman said.He added that the bank's own market research had shown that higher service levels, a area BOQ said was one of its main advantages, were not likely to cause customers to switch banks. In any case, the same research showed there was little brand recognition of BOQ outside its home market and there were not hordes of disaffected customers ready to leave their banks. One of the factors in BOQ's model for a successful OMB relied on generation of fees and charges, yet the banks own research showed an "absolute hatred" of bank fees.Further, Cotman said, mortgage intermediaries were better paid by other banks who gave them commissions, rather than the set-price "spotters' fees" that the OMBs were directed to pay.He added that BOQ was subject to budgetary constraints, so was unable to support its OMBs with the sort of state wide marketing campaigns they really required if they were to become profitable after a short ramp-up period.Simon Couper, for the bank responded by asserting that any suggestion of a gap between what was said and what was provided in writing "was not being made on a firm factual basis".He added that Garry Allsopp (BOQ's New South Wales regional manager in 2004) was "directing his attention to levels of lending" expected in a branch, he did not make any representations as to what could be expected from each individual employee. That is, if OMBs had several lenders on staff, it was not expected that each would generate $4 million. Couper added that when considering the expected loans and profitability generated by each branch, "achievable" carries the notion that it's "something to be strived for, not a starting point".He also said that experienced bankers