Lloyds boss António Horta-Osório to become Credit Suisse chairman
Lloyds boss António Horta-Osório is to become chairman of Credit Suisse in April as the Swiss firm battles to recover from a spying scandal.
The 56-year-old - who steered Lloyds bank back into private hands after one of the largest rescues during the 2008 financial crisis - will relocate to Switzerland for the role, which he will start next April if shareholders give their approval.
Credit Suisse has not disclosed details about his pay but his predecessor Urs Rohner receives a package worth £3.8m.
Mr Horta-Osório has earned about £56m during a decade running Lloyds and is the longest-serving boss of a British bank. Under his tenure the lender returned to private ownership following a £20bn taxpayer bailout in the financial crisis.
The Portuguese banker, a crisis veteran who has been shark diving more than 100 times including with three great whites in South Africa one Christmas, said in July that he would leave "the job of a lifetime" at Lloyds by next summer.
It was widely expected that he would re-emerge in a chairman or chief executive role at a big bank.
The timing of his exit is earlier than planned, potentially leaving a gap at the top of Britain's biggest high-street lender next year. Mr Horta-Osorio's replacement Charlie Nunn, a HSBC banker, has a six-month notice period and up to six months of post-termination restrictions.
One investor said: "It's a shame if there is an interregnum gap, but hopefully HSBC won't be too hawkish and the combination of chairman and chief finance officer [at Lloyds] should be able to manage over any gap period."
Mr Horta-Osório will join Credit Suisse as it struggles to move on from a spying scandal that has gripped the Swiss banking world and led to the departure of its chief executive Tidjane Thiam, who said he knew nothing about the surveillance.
The scandal first erupted last September when it emerged that Credit Suisse's former wealth management boss Iqbal Khan had been chased through the streets of Zurich by detectives hired to track him after he quit to work for arch-rival UBS.
The bank initially said this was a rogue case but details of other spying have since emerged. In December, the company was forced to admit it also spied on former HR chief Peter Goerke.
A report this week posed further embarrassment for Switzerland’s second biggest bank, indicating two further incidents of spying.
Sources told the Wall Street Journal that the law firm hired to investigate the 2019 incident found two more examples of staff being followed, which took place before Mr Khan and Mr Goerke were followed.
A spokesman said the bank did not "condone the physical observation of its people and it is not part of Credit Suisse's culture".
The announcement of Credit Suisse's chairman announcement comes a day after Lloyds picked a top HSBC banker as its next chief executive. Mr Horta-Osório's replacement will be paid a fifth less.
Meanwhile Jean Pierre Mustier is stepping down after more than four years as chief executive of UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, following clashes with board members over strategy.
e will remain in the role until the end of his mandate in April or until a successor is appointed.
