Business

UK watchdog imposes restrictions on Odey Fund movements

FCA’s move is attempt to restore order after removal of fund’s founder

The Odey Asset Management offices in London, UK. Odey Asset Management has begun the process of hiving off its funds and employees in a move that would likely signal the firm’s end, a culmination of the fallout from fresh sexual assault allegations against its founder Crispin Odey. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Jonathan Browning
Mon Jun 19 2023 - 13:04

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority imposed restrictions on the movement of cash and assets by Odey Asset Management in an attempt to restore order after the ousting of its founder, Crispin Odey.

The financial regulator published details of the voluntary restrictions agreed with the firm on Monday, saying that the firm must cease withdrawals and transfers outside of the normal course of business. The FCA declined to comment further.

A spokesman for London-based Odey Asset Management, which until recently managed about $4.3 billion, declined to comment.

The asset manager was plunged into turmoil earlier this month after the Financial Times published multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault by Odey, who denies the allegations. Even after severing ties with its founder, the firm has had to take dramatic steps to contain the fallout, including shuttering one fund and suspending withdrawals from four others.

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The move by the FCA is the first public sign that the watchdog is prepared to intervene following the firm’s implosion. The regulator has been looking into Odey’s conduct for the past two years but is yet to detail the full extent of its investigation. That silence has left the FCA facing questions from politicians about the extent of its supervision of the firm, as well as its wider work on non-financial misconduct.

Meanwhile, Odey Asset Management said last week it is in advanced discussions to transfer its funds and many employees to other money managers. In a letter to investors, the firm said its fund mangers support the moves and that any sale or rehousing would be subject to regulatory approval.

The last two weeks have seen the swift downfall of Odey after the publication of the FT investigation into his treatment of women over a 25-year period. The accusations followed similar reports in the two years since he was acquitted of a sexual assault charge in a British court in 2021.

Subsequently, two women came forward to Bloomberg, another went to the Times of London newspaper. Additional accounts appeared in a Tortoise Media podcast. – Bloomberg

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