The FCA has fined Crispin Odey of Odey Asset Management (OAM) £1.8million and banned him from the UK financial services industry for a "lack of integrity".
In June 2023, the Financial Times published an investigative report on Odey which alleged that he had sexually harassed or assaulted 13 women over the course of 25 years.
The FCA says Odey "deliberately sought to frustrate OAM’s disciplinary processes into his conduct to protect his own interests" and "showed reckless disregard for OAM’s governance, causing OAM to breach certain regulatory requirements".
In addition, the FCA says his behaviour towards both OAM and the FCA "lacked candour" and, as a result, "is not a fit and proper person to perform any function related to regulated activities".
In February 2021, after an internal investigation by OAM, Odey received a final written warning from OAM’s executive committee in relation to inappropriate behaviour.
In November 2021, OAM scheduled a disciplinary hearing to consider whether Odey had breached the final written warning. However, Odey used his majority shareholding in OAM to remove its existing executive committee members and appoint himself as sole member. Odey subsequently decided on that the disciplinary hearing into his conduct would be indefinitely postponed since he said he was unable to conduct it with impartiality.
Odey appointed new committee members and resigned from the committee in January 2022. However, following disagreement about how to proceed with the disciplinary hearing, in March 2022 Odey again removed OAM’s executive committee members and appointed himself as the sole member. Odey retained his position until he appointed two new committee members on in July 2022. OAM’s disciplinary hearing was eventually held on 29th November 2022, nearly one year after it had been originally scheduled.
Odey has referred his decision notice to the Upper Tribunal where he and the FCA will present their cases. Any findings are therefore provisional and reflect the FCA’s belief as to what occurred.
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "A culture of silence in which allegations of misconduct are not dealt with effectively can put consumers and markets at risk. Mr Odey repeatedly sought to evade and obstruct efforts to hold him to account. His lack of integrity means he deserves to be banned from the industry."
