The FCA has decided to fine Crispin Odey of Odey Asset Management LLP (OAM) £1.8m and ban him from the UK financial services industry for a lack of integrity.
In a statement today (17 March), the FCA said it considers that Mr Odey deliberately sought to frustrate OAM’s disciplinary processes into his conduct to protect his own interests.
Mr Odey has referred his Decision Notice to the Upper Tribunal where he and the FCA will present their cases. Any findings in the Decision Notice are therefore provisional and reflect the FCA’s belief as to what occurred and how it considers his behaviour should be characterised.
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. 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.
On 4 February 2021, after an internal investigation by OAM, Mr Odey received a final written warning from OAM’s executive committee (ExCo), in relation to inappropriate behaviour.
On 30 November 2021, OAM scheduled a disciplinary hearing to consider whether Mr Odey had breached the final written warning.
However, on 24 December 2021, Mr Odey used his majority shareholding in OAM to remove OAM’s existing ExCo members and appoint himself as ExCo’s sole member. Mr Odey subsequently decided on 6 January 2022 that the disciplinary hearing into his conduct would be indefinitely postponed since he said he was unable to conduct it with impartiality.
Mr Odey appointed new ExCo members and resigned from ExCo on 12 January 2022. However, following disagreement about how to proceed with the disciplinary hearing, on 31 March 2022 Mr Odey again removed OAM’s ExCo members and appointed himself as the sole member of ExCo. Mr Odey retained his position on ExCo until he appointed 2 new ExCo members on 4 July 2022.
OAM’s disciplinary hearing was eventually held on 29 November 2022, nearly 1 year after it had been originally scheduled.
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.”
