Crispin Odey: Hedge fund manager fined £1.8million and banned for 'lack of integrity'

Hedge fund manager Crispin Odey has been fined £1.8 million and banned from the UK finance industry for a "lack of integrity", the financial watchdog has said in a provisional decision.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Mr Odey "repeatedly sought to evade and obstruct efforts to hold him to account".

The watchdog found that his firm Odey Asset Management could not deal effectively with complaints of inappropriate conduct towards female members of staff because he continually threatened and intervened in the process.

Mr Odey will challenge the decision at the UK's Upper Tribunal, meaning the findings are provisional.

Mr Odey has been at the centre of sexual misconduct allegations after a report in the Financial Times (FT) newspaper uncovered claims from several women who had worked with him or known him.

The women claimed they had been abused or harassed by him, with some alleging he sexually assaulted them.

Mr Odey has previously denied the allegations against him, telling the FT they were "rubbish". In May, he sued the FT for libel. He has called himself the victim of a "witch hunt".

On Monday, the watchdog said it had decided Mr Odey was not a fit and proper person to hold any role related to regulated finance activities.

Therese Chambers, the FCA's director of enforcement and market oversight, 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."

Between 2021 and 2022, OAM tried to investigate inappropriate behaviour and discipline Mr Odey.

This incorporated numerous allegations of sexual harassment of female members of staff between 2003 and 2020, and an allegation of sexual assault in 2005.