The closure of Odey Asset Management, five months after allegations of sexual misconduct made by junior female members of staff against its founder Crispin Odey, raises serious questions of the financial sector and its ‘culture of silence,’ a prominent lawyer has said.
Thomas Beale, a specialist in bullying and harassment claims, also said the Financial Conduct Authority needed to react much more rapidly when such issues arose.
Odey Asset Management this week announced: “Odey Asset Management [OAM], including Brook Asset Management and Odey Wealth, will be closing. Fund managers and funds have moved to new asset managers.”
In June, the Financial Times reported that 13 women had accused Odey of abuse or harassment over decades. This led to Mr Odey, who denies misconduct, being ousted from the firm. The investment group, founded by the multimillionaire Conservative party donor 32 years ago, then announced its wealth management arm would be wound down.
Sexual harassment
Red Arrows had a bystander culture when it came to sexual harassment
Swiss Re case could lead to more sexual harassment claims
According to Beale, a partner at Bolt Burdon Kemp, the case signifies prevailing attitudes in the UK’s financial sector. He said that despite allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women being ‘well-known’, Odey was still able to further his career within the financial industry without consequence.
“It is essential that the financial regulator changes its regulations surrounding non-financial misconduct in order to tackle the issue of sexual misconduct in City firms.”
The FCA in September published a consultation paper on toughening rules around misconduct and governance. The new rules would toughen up the “fit and proper person” test so that employees of regulated companies could be struck off if they failed to meet the criteria.
Odey’s firm was “complicit” to a degree in their boss’s behaviour, alleged Beale: “Senior partners at Odey Asset Management warned young female employees about Odey’s ‘problematic’ behaviour for over 16 years before launching a formal investigation. This lack of action demonstrates the firm’s complicity in Odey’s misconduct and is indicative of the wider narrative that these issues are able to go unchecked within the financial industry.”
Beale called for earlier allegations against Odey to be re-examined. He said: “Odey and his firm are already facing civil lawsuits for personal injury and psychological harm; it would be a much-welcomed development to see the courts disapply time limits for older claims, so that all victims can seek justice against these horrendous acts.”
He added that the Financial Conduct Authority could have responded more rapidly to the allegations, noting that the body had been called to question by the Treasury Committee earlier this year regarding its supervision of Odey’s firm. The financial watchdog had reportedly been monitoring the firm since 2020.
“However, despite previous accusations against Odey, an investigation was not launched until 2021”, Beale said. With reference to the FCA’s decision to toughen rules, he said: “It is hoped that the FCA will include stricter regulations for non-financial misconduct in its next policy statement to prevent abusers such as Odey from going unchecked for so long. The latest allegations against Odey raises questions about the FCA’s ‘fit and proper’ assessments.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more human resources jobs
