Crispin Odey faces being banned from City jobs and is slapped with £1.8m tremendous

Crispin Odey has been handed a seven-figure fine and faces a ban from the UK financial services industry after a damning regulatory probe into the millionaire hedge fund manager’s conduct

The City veteran’s hedge fund empire eventually crumbled after he stood down in June 2023, following a Financial Times investigation that revealed accusations of sexual assault and harassment against him.

It follows a 2021 court case that saw Odey, now 66, found not guilty of an alleged indecent assault in 1998.

Odey continues to deny all allegations against him and is even reportedly planning to sue the newspaper for libel damages.

But a Financial Conduct Authority investigation has concluded that Odey sought to ‘frustrate’ his company’s disciplinary processes into his conduct ‘to protect his own interests’.

This ‘reckless disregard’ for governance, the FCA said, even caused Odey Asset Management to breach certain regulatory requirements.

The hedge fund manager has referred the decision to the Upper Tribunal where he and the FCA will present their cases, meaning the regulator’s decision remains provisional for now.

Odey was found to have ‘frustrated’ investigation efforts 

Odey purges exec committee

Odey was found to have used his majority shareholding to remove executive committee members charged with overseeing his disciplinary hearing on Christmas Eve 2021.

He then appointed himself as the sole member of the executive committee before deciding his hearing would be indefinitely postponed as he would be ‘unable to conduct it with impartiality’.

Odey went on to appoint new executive committee members only to dismiss them again following a ‘disagreement about how to proceed’.

The disciplinary hearing was eventually held on 29 November 2022, nearly one year after it had been originally scheduled.

The City watchdog has handed Odey a £1.8million fine and he faces a ban from the UK financial services industry ‘for a lack of integrity’.

FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight Therese Chambers added: ‘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.’