21 September 2012 6:51am

When Russell Gardiner put together his business plan for the launch of Bank of Queensland's Bathurst branch, in rural New South Wales, in 2005, he drew on advice from BOQ executives about the competitiveness of the bank's products and the branch's likely business volume and earnings.

Gardiner gave evidence in the Supreme Court of New South Wales yesterday that he had a number of conversations with executives from the bank about the success of other regional NSW branches and his branch's prospects, and that he relied on that information when he was putting together his business...