Neil Woodford could see his CBE stripped after activists launched a campaign against the disgraced investor for his central role in the collapse of his fund management firm.
Transparency Task Force, the campaigning group, said it and its Woodford Campaign Group are calling for the former fund manager to have his honours scrapped.
“Regardless of the qualities that led to Neil Woodford’s inclusion in the 2013 New Year Honours List, many would argue that his behaviour leading up to the closure of his flagship investment fund in 2019, and since, would surely not attract similar approbation,” said Andy Agathangelou, the founder of Transparency Task Force.
Campaigners believe Woodford’s actions were made worse because its victims were “ordinary individuals” rather than institutional investors, many of whom were approaching retirement.
“He seems to have accepted no formal responsibility, showed very little genuine remorse or made any meaningful effort to remedy the situation,” a statement from Transparency Task Force explained.
Last month, Woodford was accused of having a "defective" understanding of risk management, though his lawyers have said this was not his responsibility.
In a warning notice issued almost five years after the collapse of his £3.7bn Woodford Equity Income fund (WEIF), the Financial Conduct Authority accused Woodford of having had “a defective and unreasonably narrow understanding of his responsibilities for managing liquidity risks”.
It said this was what ultimately led to the fund’s downfall and the collapse of his firm Woodford Investment Management (WIM).