The U.K. financial regulator has warned firms that it won’t tolerate a “slapdash” approach to ethics and non-financial misconduct. The executive director of enforcement at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) promised that poor behavior will be punished, after disgraced hedge fund director Crispin Odey lost his appeal against a lifetime ban from working in the financial sector plus a £1.5 million ($2 million) fine.
Odey was banned for sexual harassment and for what the tribunal called a “reckless disregard” for governance. Not only was he accused of sexually assaulting and harassing staff on 46 occasions, but he twice fired his company’s executive committee to evade a disciplinary hearing.
