London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

António Horta-Osório: The banker who can't stay out of the headlines

António Horta-Osório: The banker who can't stay out of the headlines

Sir António Horta-Osório is used to the spotlight.

As one of the UK's most high-profile bankers "AHO", as he is known in some circles, is credited with dragging Lloyds Banking Group back from the precipice following the financial crisis.

Most recently, however, Sir António has attracted rather more negative headlines.

After moving to Credit Suisse last April, it emerged that he had twice broken Covid quarantine rules in the UK and Switzerland.

Just nine months into his chairmanship of Switzerland's second largest bank, he was out.

It is understood that some at Credit Suisse have been astonished at the attention his resignation has received.

But in the UK, Sir António has always been a colourful character.

He was a relative unknown when, in 2011, he was encouraged by the then Chancellor George Osborne to become the chief executive of Lloyds.

Prior to that, the Portuguese banker - he would later become a dual British citizen - was the boss of Spanish giant Santander's UK arm.

When Sir António took the job at Lloyds, he was a comparatively youthful 47 years-old.

The charming, suave executive stood out in the staid world of banking at the time.

Sir António was also known to be driven, detail-orientated and utterly relentless.

A keen tennis player - one of his quarantine breaches was to attend last year's men's final at Wimbledon - he also counts chess among his hobbies. He once told The Times: "As a strategy game, it applies very well to business."

He's also fond of scuba diving - and swimming with sharks.

Mental health


But it is perhaps these characteristics that led him to the first major crisis of his career when, after just eight months as Lloyds' chief executive, he suddenly took two months of medical leave.

It was shocking at the time, rattling Lloyds' board and its shareholders with many questioning if he would ever return at all.

Sir António later explained that he had discovered that Lloyds was in "a very weak position".

He told the BBC that the state of the bank was something he had to keep to himself, saying that if he spoke about it "obviously that would not generate confidence in the bank".

Lloyds had disastrously decided to rescue HBOS at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. It was then bailed out by the government to the tune of £20.3bn, leaving taxpayers with a 43% stake in the bank.

By the time Sir António joined in 2011, Lloyds was operating within a struggling UK economy while the eurozone crisis raged.

A few months into his job, severe insomnia led to five consecutive nights of no sleep at all which he described "a form of torture".

Sir António did come back but only after a spell in the Priory, where he slept for 16-hour stretches, and a great deal of recuperation at his home in Chelsea.

Once back at Lloyds, he was mentored by psychiatrist Dr Stephen Pereira who, he told the Times, advised him to be "more like a palm tree, so when the storm comes the palm tree bends but then comes back up, instead of being like an oak tree and trying to resist the storm, in which case it can break".

Sir António was advised to "be more like a palm tree" following his medical leave for exhaustion


While surprising at the time - especially in the take-no-prisoners corporate world - the episode ended up as a positive. Lloyds introduced a mental health programme at the bank including training up thousands of mental health first aiders.

And when Sir António was knighted in 2020, it was for his services to mental healthcare as well as the financial services industry.

'Regret'


But it wasn't all plain-sailing at Lloyds.

In 2016, the married father of three was exposed by The Sun for an alleged extra-marital affair - headline "Lloyds bonk".

It prompted an embarrassing memo from the boss to Lloyds staff where Sir António spoke of his regret at the "adverse publicity and damage" caused by the coverage.

The situation wasn't helped by the fact that just three years earlier, Sir António had launched a "Code of Responsibility" at the bank.

In it, Lloyds staff employees were urged to "do the right thing" and ask themselves questions such as: "Would I be happy to tell my colleagues, family and friends about my actions?"

He has mostly kept quiet about the whole episode, though once, when asked about it, the Jesuit-educated Sir António quoted a bible story about Mary Magdalene to the Financial Times, saying: "Those of you that never sinned, throw the first stones."

And while Sir António has done much for mental health in the workplace, tens of thousands of people lost their jobs at Lloyds. Also, after a decade at the top of the bank, it is understood Sir Antonio earned, in aggregate, around £60m.

During that time, however, he did return the bank to profitability and the government sold its final remaining stake in the bank in 2017.

When the bank fully returned to the private sector, Sir António told the BBC: "It was a moment of huge pride for all the colleagues at Lloyds bank [and] for our customers."

There is not, perhaps, much pride at his slightly ignominious exit from Credit Suisse. But Sir António, who turns 58 years-old on 28 January, will undoubtedly be back.

As someone who knows him told the BBC: "We don't need to worry about him too much."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×