Portugal’s ‘Negócios’ has published an article on António Horta Osório, the Chief Executive of Lloyds Bank, referring to his place on the Financial Times ‘Top 30 most influential figures of the City of London.’
The news item failed to note Horta Osório’s affair that by his own admission affected the company’s image.
The best he could managed by way of an apology was that he regretted the adverse publicity and damage caused by the media coverage of his affair with Wendy Piatt on a business trip to Singapore.
Horta Osório, married with three children and got the job largely due to the ‘family values’ image he presented.
The heady post-Brexit world of finance in London will be steered by this list of hedgies and bankers, according to the FT.
The 30 personalities chosen by the FT, "will shape the future" of the London financial market in the post European Union.
António Horta Osório is one of five bankers set on the list and is credited with reviving Lloyds after its taxpayer bailout.
The other four bankers are Argentine Daniel Pinto, head of JP Morgan Europe, Simon Robey, co-founder of financial advice company Robey Warshaw, Alison Rose, CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland, and Michel Sherwood, Co- CEO of the Great Vampire Squid - Goldman Sachs International for which Portugal’s José Manuel Barroso now toils on €400,000 a month plus a set of keys to the executive toilet.
Horta Osório was in 11th position on this list of power-brokers - his citation read as follows:
"As CEO of Santander’s UK arm, the smooth Portuguese banker was once regarded as a son by his then boss, the late Santander Group chairman Emilio Botín. And so it was seen as the ultimate defection in 2011 when he took the top job at Lloyds, the UK’s largest mortgage lender. Horta-Osório is credited with reviving Lloyds after the financial crisis, although he underestimated the bank’s historic provisions for mis-selling payment protection insurance."
Not a word about ‘recent scandal’ or ‘family values.’ Short memories at the FT…
Would you want someone who cheats on his wife to be in charge of your bank account?
Mr and Mrs Horta Osorio, in happier times....
