Credit Suisse boss António Horta-Osório resigns over Covid breaches

The chairman of Credit Suisse, António Horta-Osório, has resigned after the Swiss bank reportedly found that he had broken Covid-19 quarantine laws, including by attending the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

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Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Horta-Osório, the former chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, said in a statement that his “personal actions” had made it more difficult for him to represent the bank. He had also admitted breaking Swiss quarantine rules.

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It means that Horta-Osório managed less than a year in the job, after he was brought in to steady the bank after a series of expensive failures, including its involvement in the collapse of Archegos, an investment firm, and Greensill Capital, a supply chain finance firm.

“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,” Horta-Osório said in a statement issued by Credit Suisse on Monday.

“I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time.”

The breach emerged in December, after Reuters reported it was discovered through a preliminary investigation by Credit Suisse’s legal team. The news came just weeks after Horta-Osório admitted that he breached Covid rules in Switzerland, having flown out of the country within three days of arriving on 28 November despite being required to quarantine for 10 days.

Credit Suisse confirmed on Monday that Horta-Osório had resigned after an investigation commissioned by the board, but did not give any details of the findings.

The bank has appointed Axel Lehmann, formerly a senior executive at its Swiss rival UBS and the Swiss insurer Zurich, to take over as chair of its board.

Horta-Osório attended the Wimbledon tennis tournament on 10 and 11 July 2021, having flown from flown to the UK from Switzerland. At that time Switzerland was on the UK government’s amber list of countries that required arrivals to isolate for 10 days. Breaching quarantine rules was a criminal offence, according to UK government guidance, which stated that police could issue offenders with fines starting at £1,000 and rising to £10,000 for repeat offences.

The Portuguese banker had been brought in by Lloyds in 2010 as chief executive after the bank’s government bailout during the financial crisis. The government sold its last remaining shares in May 2017 under his watch, but Horta-Osório had already drawn criticism for large bonus payments.

Lloyds announced his departure in 2020, and Credit Suisse announced his appointment six months later. Horta-Osório was brought in to steady the ship after the bank admitted hiring private detectives to spy on executives. The Archegos and Greensill collapses cost the bank billions just as he was due to start in the role.