Crispin Odey faces life ban, £1.8m fine over sex misconduct claims
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Monday 17 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - Former fund manager Crispin Odey could be banned working in financial services for life and may have to pay a £1.8m fine over allegations of sexual misconduct at his company Odey Asset Management.
The Financial Conduct Authority on Monday issued the provisional sanctions against Odey and said he had displayed "a lack of integrity" during its investigations into his behaviour. The multimillionaire plans to contest the fine and ban in the Upper Tribunal, a court that handles appeals against regulatory decisions.
Odey, 66, who founded Odey Asset Management (OAM), "deliberately sought to frustrate OAM's disciplinary processes into his conduct to protect his own interests", the FCA said in a statement on Monday.
The FCA provisional ruling comes nearly two years after the Financial Times reported claims of sexual assault and harassment against Odey from 20 women. Odey has denied any misconduct and is suing the paper for libel.
According to the FCA, Odey had used his majority shareholding in OAM to remove its executive committee, weeks before he was due to appear for a disciplinary hearing in January 2022. As the only member of the committee, he then decided to indefinitely postpone the hearing, saying he was unable to conduct it with impartiality.
Odey then appointed a new executive board in January 2022, but removed all members by March that year, once again leaving himself as sole member. Three more people were added to the board before the company finally conducted a disciplinary hearing in November 2022, nearly a year later than originally planned.
"A culture of silence in which allegations of misconduct are not dealt with effectively can put consumers and markets at risk," said Therese Chambers, the FCA's joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight.
"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."
Odey has not been authorised by the FCA to carry out any regulated financial services activity since 2023, while OAM had its authorisation removed last year.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
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