Crispin Odey loses appeal against lifetime ban from City of London

Crispin Odey has lost his legal battle to overturn a lifetime ban from the UK financial services industry, after a tribunal ruled that he lacked the integrity to work in the City.

The Upper Tribunal on Monday upheld the prohibition order imposed on the former hedge fund manager by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The judges did, however, throw him one small bone, reducing his fine from £1.83 million to £1.53 million.

The ruling cements the downfall of one of London’s most prominent and colourful hedge fund managers. The judges concluded that Odey was not a fit and proper person to work in finance, pointing to his "complete disregard for proper governance" and his attempts to systematically dismantle his own firm's efforts to investigate him.

Why was Odey banned?

The case centred on Odey's behaviour at his firm, Odey Asset Management, between December 2021 and November 2022. Several female employees had come forward with sexual harassment allegations, prompting the firm to launch an internal investigation.

Rather than let the process run, Odey used his power as the majority shareholder and controller of the business to shut it down. He twice fired the firm’s entire executive committee when they tried to hold him to account.

"He misused his power as controller to remove the ExCos as a means to protect his own interests and attempt to achieve his objectives," the tribunal's written ruling said.

No contrition shown

During a three-week appeal hearing in March, Odey's defence fell flat. The judges noted that the Brexit-backing financier showed absolutely no remorse for his actions.

"He has expressed no contrition," they wrote. "He sees nothing wrong with his approach, and indeed he wrongly sees himself as the victim."

The appeal hearing itself produced several remarkable admissions. Odey blamed a 2005 incident, in which he was accused of groping a female colleague's breasts, on the lingering effects of sedatives he had taken after root canal surgery. He also claimed he had no memory of cornering another female employee after a long lunch and telling her, "I could attack you now."

Acting with impunity

Therese Chambers, the FCA’s executive director for enforcement and market oversight, said the ruling showed that Odey believed the rules did not apply to him.

"Mr Odey clearly thought he could act with impunity," Chambers said. "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."

Chambers added that Odey had spent the hearing trying to "reinvent history" and "painted himself as a victim."

The allegations against Odey first became public in 2023, leading to his resignation from the firm he founded. Odey Asset Management collapsed and ceased trading just months later.