Top financier Crispin Odey is leaving his City firm as he faces probe

Financier Crispin Odey is leaving his asset managment 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. 

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’.

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.

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. 

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.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.