AJ Bell PLC (LSE:AJB), Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (LSE:HL.) and Halifax are being probed by the top UK financial regulator for offering retail investors the chance to buy funds from Odey Asset Management.
The FCA launched the investigation shortly after it gated multiple funds run by the disgraced investment firm.
Crispin Odey, the fund’s founder, is currently facing accusations of sexual misconduct spanning multiple decades – although he denies these allegations.
Plans are now in place to see the Odey hedge fund broken apart.
Why investment platforms would still offer the funds to their clients is the main concern of the FCA, according to reports from the Financial Times.
It believes retail investors may not have heard about the scandals surrounding Odey and therefore invest in the funds unaware of potential suspensions and restrictions to withdrawals.
Some of the investment platforms have defended the move, one told the FT that none had been sold since the allegations against Crispin Odey were released in early June.
“These are relatively specialist funds and are held by very few customers,” the person told the FT.