Hedge fund manager Crispin Odey has been banned from the UK finance industry for his “lack of integrity”.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Mr Odey “repeatedly sought to evade and obstruct efforts to hold him to account” as it fined him £1.8m and banned him from the City.
Mr Odey will challenge the decision at the UK’s Upper Tribunal, meaning the findings are provisional.
It found his firm Odey Asset Management did not and could not deal effectively with complaints of inappropriate conduct towards female staff members because he continually intervened in the process.
Mr Odey has been at the centre of sexual misconduct allegations after a report in the Financial Times (FT) newspaper published claims from several women who had worked with him or known him.
The women claimed they had been abused or harassed by him, with some alleging he sexually assaulted them.
Mr Odey has previously denied the allegations against him, telling the FT they were “rubbish”. In May, he sued the FT for libel. He has called himself the victim of a “witch hunt”.
The FT has said it will be ‘vigorously defending’ its reporting.
On Monday, the watchdog said it had decided Mr Odey was not a fit and proper person to hold any role related to regulated finance activities.
Therese Chambers, the FCA’s director of enforcement and market oversight, said: “A culture of silence in which allegations of misconduct are not dealt with effectively can put consumers and markets at risk.
“Mr Odey repeatedly sought to evade and obstruct efforts to hold him to account.
“His lack of integrity means he deserves to be banned from the industry.”
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