(Bloomberg) -- Crispin Odey was warned by the UK markets watchdog that it plans to take action over what it called a “lack of integrity” when he responded to allegations of sexual misconduct.
The FCA said Friday that Odey’s behavior toward both Odey Asset Management and the regulator “lacked candor” after he was given a written warning for his conduct. The watchdog said Odey’s actions before a disciplinary hearing in 2022 “were deliberately designed to frustrate OAM’s ongoing disciplinary process into his conduct, in order to protect his own interests.”
“He used improper means to protect his own interests and achieve his objectives,” the FCA said in its written notice. “His conduct in his dealings with the FCA also support the finding that he lacks integrity.”
Odey didn’t immediately respond to a call and message seeking comment.
OAM was plunged into turmoil after the Financial Times published multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault by Odey, who founded the firm in 1991 and earned a reputation for making contrarian bets that put him among some of Britain’s richest hedge fund investors.
Several banks cut ties with his firm and investors raced for the exits in the weeks following the investigation, forcing the company to shut funds and suspend several others. Odey was subsequently removed from the firm he founded.
The FCA’s written notice focused on a series of events that started in late 2021, when OAM’s executive committee scheduled a disciplinary hearing about Odey’s behavior at the time. Days before the meeting, Odey removed all of the existing representatives of the committee, appointed himself the sole member and indefinitely postponed that hearing.
The hearing was ultimately held in November of the following year — after Odey had appointed and removed several other executive committee members.
“The FCA considers that during the relevant period Mr Odey demonstrated a lack of integrity,” the watchdog said in its written notice. “His actions were deliberately designed to frustrate OAM’s ongoing disciplinary process into his conduct in order to protect his own interests and showed a reckless disregard for OAM’s governance and caused OAM to breach certain regulatory requirements.”
Rejoining OAM
The British tycoon ultimately rejoined OAM as a director earlier this year, with him and a company he controls taking on administration duties, according to registry filings.
While OAM still exists, it’s no longer authorized by the FCA to carry out activities such as managing customer money.
Odey’s intentions behind rejoining the 33-year-old firm are unclear, though it could ultimately help him to manage his own vast fortune, which was still largely tied up in the business upon his 2023 exit and valued at roughly £561 million ($727 million) around that time, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The FCA last year placed withdrawal restrictions on OAM, preventing the founder from pulling out his funds, but that order has since been lifted.
--With assistance from Nishant Kumar.
(Updates with further details about Odey’s conduct beginning in the seventh paragraph.)
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