By Nell Mackenzie
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will not take action against Odey Asset Management (OAM), the fund manager that closed this year after a string of sexual misconduct allegations by women against its founder Crispin Odey.
In an investor letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday, OAM noted the regulator’s decision after the FCA had said that the investigation was closed.
In a letter to lawmakers on the Treasury Select Committee, the FCA’s CEO Nikhil Rathi on Dec. 12 confirmed the regulator has been investigating Crispin Odey and Odey Asset Management since 2021.
The FCA on Tuesday declined to comment further and referred to the letter which said the investigation into Odey Asset Management was closed but that the watchdog’s investigation into Crispin Odey “remains live”.
OAM, once one of Britain’s best-known hedge funds, also said it had wound down and that its last client relationship ended on Dec. 12.
Odey, who founded OAM in 1991, was ousted in June after the Financial Times and Tortoise Media jointly reported the allegations of sexual misconduct from 13 women. More women have since stepped forward.
Odey denies the allegations.
The FCA has said it is investigating whether Odey is “fit and proper” to work in financial services.
A representative from OAM declined to comment.
(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing Dhara Ranasinghe and Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
