He sacked the executives appointed to monitor his behaviour, and regulators failed to intervene
Crispin Odey dismissed two executive committees which ran his hedge fund company to evade disciplinary hearings on his alleged sexual misconduct, raising questions about the financial services regulator’s ability to oversee corporate governance.
The disciplinary hearings began after an employee made an internal complaint about Odey, triggering an internal investigation by law firm Simmons & Simmons. Its report, which was given to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), found Odey had behaved inappropriately with female staff.
Odey has strenuously denied the allegations against him, which led to his departure from the company last Saturday. They include multiple claims of serious sexual misconduct from 13 women. Odey Asset Management said it takes all allegations of this nature seriously.
Odey Asset Management’s executive committee – then consisting of chairman David Fletcher, head of research Massey Roborough, chief executive Timothy Pearey, and senior fund manager James Hanbury – called Odey to a disciplinary hearing over the report in late-January 2021.
The executive committee found some of Odey’s behaviour described in the report unacceptable, especially for someone of his seniority. Odey was contrite, and showed a willingness to comply with new disciplinary measures.