Partner Chris Roberts has provided comment in The Times and City AM on former hedge fund boss Crispin Odey’s failed legal challenge against his lifetime ban from the City for attempting to “frustrate” investigations into sexual harassment allegations against him.

Commenting on the implications of the decision, Chris said: “This decision will be a welcome relief for the FCA – it serves as a warning that interfering with internal investigations and manipulating boards to avoid the consequences arising from those investigations will not be tolerated.

“This case demonstrates that ultimately the FCA will push hard to ensure that the governance regimes it requires cannot be escaped, particularly in such an egregious example as this. The FCA is keen for firms to self-police effectively, through strong and independent compliance teams.”

Highlighting how the FCA treats allegations of this nature, Chris commented: “This decision also underscores the importance of firms ensuring that their policies and procedures have been updated to reflect the FCA’s rules on non-financial misconduct, which came into force on 1 September. Given that Mr Odey’s actions took place long before these rules came into force, there can be no doubt about how seriously the FCA takes allegations of this sort.”

Chris added: “This case also demonstrates the difficulty of dealing with founders or other key senior figures at a firm. Who does the compliance team report to when conducting an investigation? How independent can it be? In such cases, it seems necessary to instruct external counsel to demonstrate that independence to the FCA.”

Chris’ comments were published in The Times, 14 September, and both online and in print in City AM, 16 September 2026.