Hedge fund founder odey goes to court to fight ban from working in city of London

Crispin Odey Appeals FCA Ban from City of London Over Misconduct Claims

Overview of the Crispin Odey FCA Appeal Case

By Sam Tobin and Nell Mackenzie

Background on Crispin Odey and the FCA Ban

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Crispin Odey's appeal against a roughly 1.8-billion-pound ($2.4 billion) fine and industry ban begins on Tuesday, in a test of Britain's efforts to tackle workplace misconduct at financial firms.

Odey, who founded Odey Asset Management in 1991, shot to prominence during the 2008 financial crisis after making a fortune short-selling bank shares. He later became a high-profile political voice as a leading backer of Brexit and a donor to the Conservative Party.

Misconduct Allegations and FCA Actions

The 67-year-old was accused of sexual harassment at OAM and then, according to the Financial Conduct Authority, deliberately frustrated his own fund's disciplinary process by twice dismissing the members of its executive committee, in 2021 and 2022.

The FCA said last year it would fine and ban Odey for a lack of integrity in relation to how his now-defunct firm investigated complaints of inappropriate behavior.

Odey's Defense and Legal Arguments

Odey will argue at London's Upper Tribunal that his actions were intended to protect OAM, which "faced an existential crisis", court documents filed by his lawyers and seen by Reuters show.

Industry-Wide Concerns and Regulatory Response

Workplace Misconduct in the Financial Sector

AN INDUSTRY PROBLEM

Concerns about poor workplace practices have moved up the regulatory agenda. In its first major study of the issue, the FCA found in 2024 that reports of bullying, discrimination and other non-financial misconduct at financial firms surged almost 60% over the three years to 2023.

Details of the FCA's Case Against Odey

The proposed industry ban centres on Odey's response to OAM's internal probe and how he "made his contempt for the whole process clear", according to the FCA's lawyers.

The watchdog said in its decision last year that OAM's executive committee issued Odey a final written warning over improper conduct towards female employees, instructing him to act more professionally. This warning was breached in 2021 and 2022, after complaints from a recent joiner and from a recruitment agency supplying temporary staff, the FCA said.

Previous Legal Proceedings and Ongoing Allegations

Odey was separately charged in 2020 with sexually assaulting a young, female banker in 1998 and acquitted in 2021 after a trial.

He was ousted from OAM after the Financial Times and Tortoise Media reported allegations of sexual misconduct from 13 women. More allegations have since surfaced. Odey told the Financial Times that the allegations were "rubbish" and is suing the newspaper for libel, with a trial scheduled for June.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie and Sam Tobin. Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and Mark Potter)