Business

Lloyds boss António Horta-Osório to step down

António Horta-Osório to step down next year
Toby Melville/Reuters
Mark Shapland
6 July 2020

Lloyds boss António Horta-Osório has announced he will step down.

The chief executive plans to leave in June next year, when he will have completed 10 years in the role. No replacement has been named.

Horta-Osório joined in 2011. He has been at the helm as Lloyds emerged from the global financial crisis and the UK government unwound its bailout stake in the lender. Lloyds returned fully to private hands in 2017.

Horta-Osório said: "It is with mixed emotions that I announce my intention to step down as chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group by June next year.

"I am lucky to have had the support of a superb Board and executive team on whom I will continue to rely as we complete our current strategic plan, transforming the Group into the bank of the future.

"I have been honoured to play my part in the transformation of large parts of our business. I know that when I leave the group next year, it has the strategic, operational and management strength to build further on its leading market position."

António Horta-Osório has been at Lloyds for ten years
AFP/Getty Images

The announcement comes amid sweeping changes at the top of the Bank.

Lloyds also said it had appointed Robin Budenberg chairman to replace Lord Norman Blackwell.

Budenberg takes over early in 2021, when Blackwell will step down.

Budenberg has had a long career in the City. He will leave his current roles at Centerview Partners and on the boards of Big Society Trust and Charity Bank, but will continue as chairman of The Crown Estate.

His selection follows an extensive search process led by independent director, Alan Dickinson.

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Budenberg said: "Lloyds will play a vital role as Britain recovers from the current crisis.

"It is a great honour and challenge to take on the role of chair at this time and I hope to continue Norman and António's work, initially alongside António, in pursuing Lloyds' core purpose of Helping Britain Prosper and in building the culture of the bank in order to support that purpose."

Lord Blackwell said: "I am delighted to welcome Robin Budenberg to the Board as my successor.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the outstanding contribution that António Horta-Osório has made to first turning round and then leading the strategic development of the Group over the last decade.

"His personal commitment and strong vision have driven a period of massive and successful change in the Group, restoring Lloyds to its preeminent position in Helping Britain Prosper as the UK's leading retail and commercial bank.

"During his tenure, he has overseen a comprehensive transformation of the Group's balance sheet, operations, and customer propositions, including the repayment of the UK Government's £21 billion investment and evolution of the Group into the UK's largest digital bank.

"His decision to announce now his planned retirement allows for an orderly succession process to appoint a new chief executive next year to work with the new Chair."

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