The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to ban Crispin Odey from the financial services sector and fine the hedge fund founder £1.8m over a “lack of integrity” in his handling of misconduct allegations, according to a report by the Financial Times.
Odey, who established Odey Asset Management (OAM) in 1991, is accused of obstructing internal disciplinary proceedings into his conduct to protect his own interests, according to an FCA notice published on Monday. While the watchdog’s decision is not based on the sexual misconduct allegations against Odey, it states that his attempts to block investigations into complaints render him unfit to work in the industry.
Odey disputes the FCA’s findings and plans to challenge the ruling at the Upper Tribunal, a court with equivalent status to the UK High Court.
The FCA’s decision follows reports that Odey twice dismissed OAM’s executive committee between December 2021 and March 2022 after it attempted to launch disciplinary action against him. Leveraging his majority shareholding, he replaced the committee with himself and postponed a scheduled hearing into his conduct indefinitely, claiming he could not handle the matter impartially.
The FCA ruled that Odey’s actions undermined corporate governance at the firm, with Therese Chambers, FCA joint Executive Director, stating that: “A culture of silence, in which allegations of misconduct are not dealt with effectively, can put consumers and markets at risk. 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.”
The FCA also outlined several governance breaches at OAM, including failing to: maintain a leadership team of good repute; keep risk management independent from other operations; and conduct annual fitness and propriety assessments as per UK Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) rules.
During its investigations, the FCA reported that Odey had expressed open contempt for regulatory oversight, even threatening FCA officials by saying: “You will not get away with this… You are about to create a crisis. I will walk and leave you to clean up the mess.”
OAM, which once managed $13.3bn at its peak, is currently winding down operations and transferring funds to other asset managers. Odey himself has not held FCA authorisation since 2023, and his firm’s regulatory approval was revoked last year.
Beyond the FCA probe, Odey is fighting a civil personal injury lawsuit from five of his alleged victims, while also pursuing a libel case against the Financial Times, which first exposed allegations of misconduct against him.
