Ex-Lloyds banking boss Sir Antonio Horta-Osorio is made a Knight Bachelor in a ceremony weeks after he was forced to quit as Chairman of Credit Suisse for breaking Covid lockdown rules including attending Wimbledon when he should have been isolating

• Sir Antonio Horta-Osorio, 58, was knighted in an investiture ceremony today
• He led Lloyds Banking Group for ten years and was praised for transforming it
• Sir Antonio left last year to be chairman of global banking giant Credit Suisse
• But he resigned from that role in January after allegedly breaching Covid rules

One of Britain’s best-known banking bosses was made a Knight Bachelor by the Princess Royal in an investiture ceremony today – just weeks after he quit his job amid claims he broke lockdown rules.

Sir Antonio Horta-Osorio, 58, led Lloyds Banking Group for ten years and was praised for restoring it from the brink after the 2008 global financial crisis.

He left Lloyds last year to become chairman of global banking giant Credit Suisse but resigned in January after just nine months in the role, following an internal investigation into allegations of breaching coronavirus rules.  

It emerged father-of-three Sir Antonio had allegedly breached Covid rules last year by reportedly attending the Wimbledon tennis finals despite having recently arrived from Switzerland – which was on the UK’s amber travel list at the time. 

The Portugese-born executive’s knighthood was announced in June 2021 for services to the financial sector, as well as his voluntary work for mental healthcare and culture.

Sir Antonio Horta-Osorio, 58, is made a Knight Bachelor by the Princess Royal during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle today

The Portugese-born executive led Lloyds Banking Group for ten years and was praised for restoring it from the brink after the 2008 global financial crisis

Sir Antonio earned around £60million in total during his decade at Lloyds and while he is often regarded as a colourful character in the UK – an extra-marital affair was exposed by The Sun in 2016 – he has been frank about his past struggles with mental health.

He headed up Santander’s UK arm before being encouraged by then Chancellor George Osborne to take over at Lloyds in early 2011.

At the time, Lloyds was on its knees after its £20.3 billion taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis following an ill-fated rescue of rival HBOS, with left taxpayers with a 43 per cent stake in the business.

Sir Antonio won widespread praise for his stewardship of Lloyds from near collapse back to rude health.

His diligence and attention to detail have won plaudits from financial journalists and led to his renown as a world leader within the banking sector. 

Sir Antonio (right) headed up Santander’s UK arm before being encouraged by then Chancellor George Osborne (left) to take over at Lloyds in early 2011

Besides scuba diving and swimming with sharks, he is also an enthusiastic tennis player – a hobby linked to one of his alleged Covid breaches at Wimbledon last year. Sir Antonio once told The Times: ‘As a strategy game, it applies very well to business.’ 

Despite his assured leadership, Lloyds’ board were left uneasy in 2011 when he suddenly took two months of medical leave less than a year into his tenure, the BBC reported.  

He later explained he had learned Lloyds was in ‘a very weak position’ and found himself unable to discuss it openly due to the impact it would have on confidence within the bank.

After a spell in The Priory, Sir Antonio restored Lloyd’s profitability and the government’s final remaining stakes were sold in 2017, returning the bank fully to the private sector in a ‘moment of huge pride’.

Sir Antonio restored Lloyd’s profitability and the government’s final remaining stakes were sold in 2017, returning the bank fully to the private sector in a ‘moment of huge pride’

Speaking about his mental health experiences, he later told the BBC: ‘I had the advantage in the sense of having had a personal experience that helped me be being more sensitive, but I don’t think that is a must. You don’t have to have been through that. 

‘I learned the hard way. At least one out of three people goes through a mental health problem through their lifetime. So it is actually much more common than you might think.’

Today’s investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle also saw Coronation Street star Sally Dyvenor made an MBE.

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