Crispin Odey has lost his bid to overturn a lifetime ban from working in the City of London, which the Financial Conduct Authority imposed on him over his handling of sexual misconduct allegations at his hedge fund, Odey Asset Management.
The Upper Tribunal in London dismissed his challenge on Monday, following a hearing earlier this year, capping a dramatic fall from grace for the financier, who is 67.
The FCA had barred Odey from the UK finance industry and fined him more than £1.8 million in March last year, finding that he had shown a "lack of integrity" over the way he handled disciplinary processes relating to his alleged conduct at Odey Asset Management, known as OAM.
Who is Crispin Odey
Odey founded Odey Asset Management in 1991 and built it into one of London's best-known hedge funds, known for aggressive macro trading and its founder's high public profile, including his vocal support for Brexit. At its peak the firm managed billions of pounds on behalf of investors before the allegations against Odey came to light.
The Simmons & Simmons report
The FCA told the tribunal that a 2021 report by law firm Simmons & Simmons had identified at least 46 historical allegations of inappropriate conduct by Odey towards female employees at OAM between 2003 and 2020.
Sacking the disciplinary committee
Odey was later alleged to have breached the terms of a final written warning by sexually harassing a temporary receptionist at the end of 2021.
The FCA claimed Odey then twice dismissed members of OAM's executive committee, which was investigating the alleged breach, leaving himself as its sole member and postponing the disciplinary process "indefinitely".
Its barristers told the hearing that this "amounted to an abrogation of Odey's duty to act with integrity" and "shows that he is not fit and proper".
Lawyers for Odey said the former hedge fund manager had removed the executive committee members because he believed he was facing an unfair process that would result in his removal from the company.
Odey also denied the allegations, telling the tribunal in evidence that he "could not then, and cannot now, see what other option I had" but to dismiss them.
The tribunal's ruling
In Monday's ruling, the tribunal judges said they were "satisfied that Mr Odey lacked integrity in each of the ways that the authority alleges".
They said: "We are satisfied that Mr Odey's asserted beliefs or concerns were not the primary nor contemporaneous motives for his actions in removing the ExCos. Many of the beliefs he did not even hold at the time, and those that he did were not reasonably held but reflected a warped set of values based on a strong sense of entitlement."
The tribunal did reduce the fine issued to Odey by the FCA, cutting it from £1.8 million to £1.5 million.
What the FCA said
Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "Mr Odey clearly thought he could act with impunity. He twice sacked those tasked with protecting female employees from his inappropriate behaviour when they tried to hold him to account. He felt the rules shouldn't apply to him and acted to save his own skin."
"During the hearing he reinvented history, painted himself as a victim and displayed no contrition. That arrogant entitlement and the resulting complete disregard for proper governance means Mr Odey is unfit to work in financial services," she said.
