Top financier Crispin Odey is leaving his City firm as he faces probe into sexual assault and harassment claims
- Crispin Odey, 64, has been accused of serious sexual assault by 13 women
- Read more: Multi-millionaire financier Crispin Odey faces City watchdog probe
Financier Crispin Odey is leaving his asset management firm days after a bombshell investigation alleged he had committed serious sexual assaults.
Odey Asset Management’s executive committee confirmed that Odey would be stepping down in a statement on Saturday. He founded the firm in 1991 and has been at the helm ever since.
The 64-year-old investor, who was previously charged with sexual assault over a 1998 incident but cleared by Westminster Crown Court in March 2021, is said to have instigated inappropriate relationships with junior colleagues, as well as groping and sexually assaulting women who worked for him.
The Financial Times reported earlier this week that 13 women had accused the financial titan, known in the industry for his ‘bearish’ attitude to markets, of sexual assault and harassment.
The victims said his behaviour had been a well-known rumour at the company and that they had been assaulted in the office and at Odey’s home.
Financier Crispin Odey (pictured) is leaving his asset firm days after a bombshell investigation alleged he had committed serious sexual assaults
The 64-year-old investor was previously charged with sexual assault over a 1998 incident but cleared by Westminster Crown Court in March 2021
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is reported to have already looked at allegations of ‘non-financial misconduct’ at Mr Odey’s firm as part of an investigation dating back two years.
Saturday’s statement, signed by chief executive Peter Martin and chief financial officer Michael Ede, said the firm investigated the allegations concerning Mr Odey but ‘cannot comment in detail as it is bound by legal obligations of confidentiality’.
Read more: Top financier Crispin Odey faces City watchdog probe over sexual assault and harassment claims
The statement said: ‘We, the executive committee of Odey Asset Management LLP, are announcing that Mr Crispin Odey is leaving the partnership.
‘As from today, he will no longer have any economic or personal involvement in the partnership.
‘Odey Asset Management Group Ltd will also cease to be a member and the partnership will now be owned and controlled by the remaining partners and managed as an independent legal entity.
‘As we have said previously the executive committee takes all allegations of misconduct extremely seriously. The firm has robust policies and procedures that have been followed at all times.
‘The firm has been investigating allegations concerning Mr Odey, but the firm cannot comment in detail as it is bound by legal obligations of confidentiality.’
Reached by phone by the FT earlier today, the former City boss said he had been told of the firm’s decision but was prepared to fight it.
Tory MP Harriett Baldwin, chairman of the Treasury select committee, said on Thursday the FT’s report ‘paints a troubling picture of an inappropriate work environment’.
On Friday, asset manager Schroders cut ties with OAM and sold its remaining investment in the business, following the allegations.
The firm said on Saturday it has been ‘fully transparent with the regulator and kept them informed throughout this process’.
But Mr Odey rebutted the claims, telling Reuters: ‘This is a rehash of an old article and none of the allegations have been stood up in a courtroom or investigation.’
A law firm representing him previously said he ‘strenuously disputed’ the claims.
Hedge fund bosses are grasping to save relationships with JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley over the bombshell revelations (file image)
Mr Odey, 64, a Tory donor who made his name betting against banking shares during the 2008 financial crisis, was previously cleared of indecent assault charges in 2021.
In 2019, the Sunday Times Rich List put his personal wealth, combined with his then wife’s, at £775million.
He was supported through his trial by his wife Nichola Pease before the couple divorced later that year.
The FT reported that an internal investigation which ended earlier in 2021 concluded he had behaved inappropriately with female staff.
It said the firm’s executive committee had given him a final written warning.
After a second internal probe later that year, Mr Odey sacked the executive committee, according to the FT.
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