At 57 years old, the Portuguese banker and former leader of Lloyds Bank is decorated by Queen Elizabeth II of England. From now on, it’s Sir António Horta-Osório.
Now he is Sir António Horta-Osório. The 57-year-old Portuguese banker was decorated this Friday by Queen Elizabeth II of England, receiving the noble title of Knights Bachelor.
The list of more than 1,000 decorations to be made by the queen this year was published this Friday on the website of the British Government, and the name of the Portuguese is one of those mentioned. The justifications given for the attribution of this title were “services provided in the financial sector (as executive chairman of Lloyds Banking Group)” and also “volunteer services in the areas of mental health and culture”.
In a written statement sent to the ECO, António Horta-Osório says he feels “very honored to receive such a prestigious award”. “I have spent more than half of my professional life in the UK and it was a privilege to have led Lloyds Banking Group for a decade,” he adds. Horta-Osório also claims that this award is recognition on a personal level, but he says it reflects the efforts of many thousands of Lloyds workers, who worked to get back the money injected into the bank by British taxpayers.
Current chairman of pharmaceutical Bial and Credit Suisse bank, António Horta-Osório gained international notoriety as leader of Lloyds Bank. It was in 2011 that the manager left Santander to take over the UK’s largest retail bank.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Lloyds Bank had to be intervened and the state took 39% of the company. Horta-Osório has pledged to recover the business and return the money to taxpayers. He kept his promise and repaid the state in full, plus a billion pounds.
As leader of Lloyds, Horta-Osório was forced to manage several crises in the institution. But also his. In 2011, just a few months into the position, he suffered burnout and had to be discharged for overwork.
He returned to work a month later and, that same year, forfeited a £2 million salary bonus. Since then, he has taken a voice for the preservation of mental health, an issue that is still stigmatized in many organizations.
In July 2020, nearly ten years after joining the bank, he announced his decision to leave Lloyds. He left behind him a stable financial institution and fit for the new era of digital banking. But he didn’t hang up his boots.
This year, he assumed the presidency of the boards of directors of Bial, and also of Credit Suisse. He was the first non-Swiss citizen to hold the position.
@ Eco
