The UK Financial Conduct Authority's annual report for the year ended 31 March 2023 notably had no mention of action taken or to be taken against Neil Woodford, Crispin Odey and/or their respective companies.
When the FCA announced the potential settlement of up to £235m alongside the deal with Link Group and Link Fund Solutions in April, as part of bringing to a close its investigation of Link Fund Solutions' role as authorised corporate director on the former LF Woodford Equity Income fund, it stated it would provide an update on the scheme in July, reports Investment Week.
However, the FCA's annual report published yesterday (20 July) made no mention of the Woodford investigation, nor the proposed redress scheme.
Similarly, six weeks into the Crispin Odey scandal, the regulator made no mention of its regulatory activity around Odey and his company Odey Asset Management, despite confirming last month it has been investigating both since 2021.
On the regulatory front, the FCA said it conducted "at least" 23 enforcement cases into principal firms in the 12-month period. The cases resulted in findings of misconduct related to appointed representatives.
Additionally, four skilled persons reviews within asset management and alternatives portfolios were carried out over the year to 31 March 2023.
"These reviews focused on testing governance, systems and controls, including onboarding and monitoring of appointed representatives," the FCA said in its annual report.
Within the asset management sector, the FCA said it had focused on setting out its priorities alongside building on its existing work on value and ESG.
A greater focus was given to liquidity management in non-banking financial institutions, it said, following the economic turmoil of the Mini Budget in September 2022. This resulted in working with the Bank of England and overseas regulator to increase resilience in fund structures.
The FCA also noted it published a discussion paper in February 2023 on how to update and improve the UK regime for asset managers to "better meet the needs of investors".
Lastly, on the listings front, the regulator said it suspended listings of instruments on 34 occasions, with 54 instances of clarificatory statements to the market following its intervention.
The FCA added: "We have continued our work in undertaking live surveillance and post-event reviews of disclosures by listed companies in UK securities markets. Where we find concerns and issues, we take a range of actions."
This article was first published on sister website Investment Week.
