The Treasury Committee, the influential Commons committee of MPs, has written to FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi to raise questions on the regulator’s reported investigation into Odey Asset Management.
Treasury Committee MPs have asked for information following a Financial Times article which reported alleged accusations of inappropriate behaviour at Odey Asset Management.
The article accused Odey Asset Management founder Crispin Odey of inappropriate behaviour towards 13 women over a 25-year period.
Mr Odey has reportedly described the allegations as “rubbish” but has yet to issue a full statement on the alleged matters.
The FCA has yet to comment on its investigation of the firm or confirm an investigation has been under way for two years.
The Treasury has asked the FCA a series of questions about its investigation into Odey Asset Management, the nature and intensity of its supervision of the asset manager, its communications with the asset manager and Mr Odey, and what action it has taken so far.
The letter also asks the FCA about its wider work around non-financial misconduct and asks for feedback from the regulator before 5 July.
In a statement issued at the weekend, Odey Asset Management LLP said that the partnership was now “entirely unconnected” to the Odey Group which continues to be majority owned by Mr Odey, one of the highest profile figures in the investment world.
Mr Odey was found not guilty of indecent assault in 2021 in relation to an incident alleged to have taken place in 1998. He is reported as calling the latest allegations “rubbish” but has yet to issue a full statement on the alleged matters.
Odey Asset Management CEO Peter Martin said last week in response to articles published in the FT that the firm did not recognise the picture of the firm portrayed by the FT. However, he said the firm was treating any such allegations “extremely seriously.”
