Odey faces City ban and £1.8m fine for 'lack of integrity'

The hedge fund manager Crispin Odey is facing a £1.8m fine and a ban from the financial services industry in the UK following a ruling by the City regulator.

The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) provisional decision followed an investigation into the 66-year old founder of now-defunct Odey Asset Management (OAM) amid newspaper allegations of historical workplace sexual misconduct.

He strenuously denied the claims reported by the Financial Times (FT) in 2023, some of which extended to sexual assault.

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OAM, which shot to public prominence after making more than £200m from bets against the UK economy over the Brexit vote of 2016, was broken up after a client flight and string of asset sales followed the emergence of the allegations.

The company is now in the process of being wound down.

The FCA said on Monday that the fine and proposed ban were provisional as Mr Odey planned to appeal the findings at the Upper Tribunal.

The watchdog said the penalties it sought to impose against Mr Odey reflected its finding of a "lack of integrity", mainly through repeated attempts "to evade and obstruct efforts to hold him to account".

Its inquiry found that OAM could not deal effectively with complaints of inappropriate conduct towards female members of staff because he continually threatened and intervened in the process.

"The FCA considers that Mr Odey deliberately sought to frustrate OAM's disciplinary processes into his conduct to protect his own interests," the regulator's statement said.

"Mr Odey showed reckless disregard for OAM's governance, causing OAM to breach certain regulatory requirements.

"In addition, the FCA considers that Mr Odey's behaviour towards both OAM and the FCA lacked candour.

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"The FCA considers Mr Odey's conduct demonstrated that he is not a fit and proper person to perform any function related to regulated activities," its ruling concluded.

Mr Odey, who is seeking £79m in damages through a libel action against the FT, has insisted he is the victim of a witch hunt.

He was yet to comment on the FCA's provisional ruling.