The UK Financial Conduct Authority recently imposed a £1,835,200 fine on Robin Crispin Odey, the founder and majority owner of London-based investment management and advisory firm Odey Asset Management, LLP (“OAM”). The FCA also banned Odey from operating in the UK financial services industry for a lack of integrity, after finding that he was not fit and proper to perform any function related to regulated activities. In response, Odey has referred the Decision Notice to the Upper Tribunal where the parties will have an opportunity to present their respective cases.
According to the Decision Notice, between September 2020 and January 2021, OAM’s executive committee (“ExCo”) conducted an internal investigation into allegations that Odey sexually harassed two employees, which resulted in Odey receiving a final written warning of misconduct in February 2021. In November 2021, the ExCo scheduled a disciplinary hearing to consider whether Odey breached the final written warning, and, in December 2021, he reportedly used his majority shareholder status to remove all existing ExCo members and appoint himself as ExCo’s sole member. In early January 2022, Odey allegedly decided to indefinitely postpone his disciplinary hearing after indicating that he was unable to conduct the hearing with impartiality. According to the FCA, after appointing new ExCo members and resigning from ExCo approximately a week later, Odey again removed the ExCo members and appointed himself as ExCo’s sole member in March 2022, after disagreeing with the members on how to proceed with the disciplinary hearing. In July 2022, Odey appointed two new ExCo members, and a disciplinary hearing was eventually held in November 2022, approximately a year after the hearing was originally scheduled. According to the FCA, at the time that Odey dismissed the ExCo members, OAM held around £2.555 billion and £2.836 billion of funds under management in December 2021 and March 2022, respectively.
The FCA determined that Odey’s actions were, 1) deliberately designed to frustrate OAM’s disciplinary processes in an effort to protect himself and 2) showed a reckless disregard for OAM’s governance, causing OAM to breach certain regulatory requirements. According to the FCA, this conduct demonstrates a clear lack of integrity, in breach of Individual Conduct Rule (ICR) 1 of the FCA’s Code of Conduct. The FCA also reported that OAM is no longer authorized by the FCA and is currently in the process of winding down operations. The FCA has also published the Warning Notice Statement issued to Odey in November 2024.
FCA Press Release | FCA – Decision Notice | FCA – Warning Notice Statement 24/4