António Horta-Osório: Credit Suisse Chairman Resigns After Alleged Breaches Of Covid Quarantine Rules
António Horta-Osório which was known as one of the UK’s high-profile investors who recently moved to Credit Suisse last April is now in the midst of controversy as it emerged that he had two times defied Covid quarantine guidelines in the UK and Switzerland including the attendance in Wimbledon tennis finals.
Author:Hajra ShannonReviewer:Paula M. GrahamFeb 03, 202214.6K Shares664.6K Views
António Horta-Osório who was known as one of the UK’s high-profile investors who recently moved to Credit Suisse last April is now in the midst of controversy as it emerged that he had two times defied Covid quarantine guidelines in the UK and Switzerland including the attendance in Wimbledon tennis finals. Therefore, with only nine months into his chairmanship of Switzerland's second-biggest bank “Credit Suisse”, he has resigned. He decided to left the bank in January 2022 after alleged breaches of Covid quarantine rules while traveling in Europe.
Who Is António Horta-Osório?
Antonio Horta Osorio is Chairman of the Board of Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank. Before becoming Chairman of Credit Suisse, he was Group Chief Executive Officer of the Lloyds Banking Group. However, he resigned due to a Covid violation.
He was born in Lisbon in January 1964 as the eldest son of Antonio Reno de Souza Horta Osorio. He was born into a family of great scholars and personalities. Osorio's father was a lawyer and a national champion of table tennis.
In addition, his paternal grandfather was also a lawyer, economist, and politician Antonio de Sousa Holta Salment Osorio. Not only that, his maternal grandfather is Carlos Cecilio Nunes Gois Mota, the 29th president of the Sporting Club de Portugal. Antonio Horta Osorio was raised by his siblings.
He began his career at Citibank, Portugal in 1987 and by 1990 became Vice President and Head of Capital Markets. He was appointed CEO of Lloyd Banking Group on March 1, 2011. He worked for Lloyds Banking from 2011 to 2021.
Antonio is a married man. Antonio's wife's name is Ana Altero Solio. The duo is also blessed with three children. The family of five currently lives in Chelsea, London.
António Horta-Osório Character Revealed
He was a general obscure when, in 2011, he was empowered by the then Chancellor George Osborne to turn into the CEO of Lloyds. Before that, the Portuguese broker - would later turn into a double British resident - was the manager of Spanish giant Santander's UK arm.
At the point when Sir António accepted the position at Lloyds, he was relatively driven at 47 years of age. The Suisse Chairman stood out in the staid world of banking at the time due to his remarkable character. It was in the seventh release of the Best Leader Awards in 2016, advanced by LBC, when António Horta Osório was recognized by among the 35 award-winning leaders of the previous years as "The Most Inspiring Leader". With a 30-year profession in banking, the director of Lloyds Bank was respected, this time by Fortune magazine, having been positioned 41st World's Greatest Leader. However, little did we know that subsequent to being thought of as the "Most Inspiring Leader", António Horta Osório is currently viewed now as the 41st World's Greatest Leader.
António Horta-Osório Controversies
Mr. Horta-Osorio joined Credit Suisse in April last year following a progression of outrages at the bank,
In February 2020, then, Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam surrendered after it was exposed the bank had spied on senior workers. Mr. Thiam denied information for the spying allegations.
Credit Suisse has additionally been hit with enormous misfortunes regarding the bombed monetary firm Greensill - which upheld Liberty Steel - and Archegos, the US mutual funds which imploded a year ago.
Last year, in a report into its relationship with Archegos, Mr. Horta-Osorio said: "We are committed to developing a culture of personal responsibility and accountability."
There are two stories rising up out of Antonio Horta-Osorio's short-lived tenure at the top of one of the Swiss banking giants.
One is that he disrupted the rules, was examined, and, having been found in breach, where was approached to step down.
In any case, partners of the previous supervisor of Lloyds Banking Group demand that the leading body of Credit Suisse might have rebuked him rather than constrained him out and recommend that the Swiss bank had not liked his endeavors to change a chief group and a culture that has been hit a progression of outrages lately.
Credit Suisse customers lost billions after the bank piped them into monetary items planned by Greensill Capital while the actual bank took a multi-billion hit from the breakdown of speculative stock investments Archegos.
The bank additionally ended up at the focal point of a strange spying embarrassment that saw the takeoff of CEO Tidjane Thiam.
Justin Tang, head of Asian examination at venture company United First Partners, said Credit Suisse "has been in the "has been in the 'damaged goods' section for a while now".
"While Horta-Osorio was answerable for the new strategy, his short tenure implies that the redo is probably going to just be in the beginning stage. The incongruity of it is that Horta was employed to fix the reputational harm to Credit Suisse and patch up its danger taking society in the bank."
In his articulation, Mr. Horta-Osorio said: "I'm glad for what we have accomplished together in my brief time frame at the bank."
In any case, George Godber, store director at Polar Capital, told the BBC: "Just [nine] months in isn't an ideal opportunity to accomplish a lot.
"He was brought in to turn around the business - it is a bank that has been hit by scandal - and so it means that his reign has been cut short.
"Not everybody is above the law for Covid restrictions."
Mr. Horta-Osorio was CEO at Lloyds Banking Group for quite some time, the beginning of which was set apart by an unexpected multi-month time away to manage an extreme lack of sleep.
Later on, in the midst of media reports of an additional extra-marital affair issue, Mr. Horta-Osorio messaged Lloyds staff, saying: "I deeply regret being the cause of so much adverse publicity and the damage that has been done to the group's reputation.
"I have been a strong advocate of expecting the highest professional standards from everyone at the bank, and that includes me."
Covid Breaches Issue
Credit Suisse Group Appoints Axel P. Lehmann as New Chairman
The chairman of Credit Suisse, António Horta-Osório, has stepped down of his position after the Swiss bank discovered that he had violated Covid-19 quarantine laws, with participation at the Wimbledon tennis competition remembered to be among the charges.
Horta-Osório, the previous CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, said in an explanation that his "own behavior" had made it harder for him to represent the bank. He had additionally conceded disrupting Swiss quarantine guidelines. Horta-Osorio's unexpected exit debilitated staff, with some doubting what was next for the bank.
Last month, an initial investigation by Credit Suisse had exposed that Mr Horta-Osorio had penetrated Covid-19 guidelines.
He went to the Wimbledon tennis finals in July when the UK's Covid-19 limitations expected him to be in isolation.
Mr Horta-Osorio additionally penetrated Swiss Covid limitations when, as indicated by Reuters, he flew into the country on 28 November yet left on 1 December. Swiss standards implied he ought to have isolated for 10 days upon his appearance.
“I regret that a number of my personal actions have led to difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent the bank internally and externally,” said Horta-Osorio, 57, in a statement from the bank, without elaborating.
“I, therefore, believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time.”
Axel Lehmann, a Swiss public and previous leader at rival bank UBS who joined the Credit Suisse board in October, will assume control over the post as chairman.
Addressing the BBC, a representative for Credit Suisse said that the bank would give no further subtleties on Mr. Horta-Osorio's renunciation other than those in its assertion.
They additionally said that there were no plans to expose the findings of the investigation.
Hajra Shannon
Author
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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