Orta Osorio Antonio

Orta Osorio Antonio

Biography

2021: Appointment of the Board Credit Suisse

At the end of April 2021, Antonio Horta-Osorio was appointed the new chairman of the board of directors of Credit Suisse. 96.45% of shareholders voted for the candidacy of the former CEO of Lloyds.

Antonio Orta-Osorio joins the bank after former chairman Urs Roner resigns due to several crises that have undermined the reputation of the Swiss bank. In Credit Suisse, Orta-Osorio plans to first of all review the risk management and business culture of the bank after the crises, as well as consider strategic options for the development of the bank.

At Lloyds, he had a rather efficient reorganization. He relatively successfully sold non-core and toxic assets, reduced basic expenses and returned profitability and full private property to the bank, "said Guy de Blone, manager of the Jupiter fund.

The structure of the investment bank Credit Suisse will be carefully studied by the new chairman of the board, CEO Thomas Gottstein told Reuters as the bank seeks to improve risk management after billions of losses due to the default of the US Archegos fund.

It takes years to form a reputation, while it can deteriorate literally overnight, "Orta-Osorio told Credit Suisse shareholders. - In three and a half decades I personally worked in several banks, headed some of them in different countries and survived many crises. What has happened to Credit Suisse over the past eight weeks, to the hedge fund in the US and the affairs of supply chain finance funds, certainly goes beyond that.

Commenting on the appointment of Antonio Horta-Osorio, Maria Rivas, Senior Vice President for Global Financial Institutions at DBRS Morningstar, noted that he is known for his close attention to detail and drive, so there are suggestions that Orta-Osorio will be excellent in risk management.^[1]

2022

Dismissal from Credit Suisse due to quarantine violation

On January 17, 2022, the chairman of the board of the second largest bank Switzerland Credit Suisse , Antonio Horta-Osorio, resigned after two violations of coronavirus () COVID-19 restrictions in 2021. The board of directors appointed Axel Lehmann as the new chairman of the bank with immediate assumption of office, he will continue to implement the company's strategy, contributing to the transformation of the bank, the press release said.

The resignation of the banker was preceded by an internal investigation, which was commissioned by the board of directors. The proceedings confirmed the fact that Antonio Orta-Osorio in 2021 violated the restrictions associated with coronavirus infection (COVID-19). In July 2021, he attended the final of the Wimbledon tournament without serving quarantine, as required by the rules established by the British government, and in November 2021 violated the ten-day quarantine in Switzerland.

Credit Suisse executives Antonio Horta-Osorio quit due to quarantine violation

I am convinced that as of January 2022, Credit Suisse has a good position and is on the right path to the future. I regret that a number of my personal actions have caused difficulties for the bank and undermined my ability to represent the bank inside and outside the bank. Therefore, I believe that my resignation is in the interests of the bank and its stakeholders at this critical moment. I wish my colleagues at Credit Suisse success in the future, "said Antonio Horta-Osorio, former chairman of Credit Suisse.

When Antonio Horta-Osorio came to Credit Suisse, it was supposed that he would help the bank restore its reputation and improve corporate culture after a series of recent scandals. One of the scandals was related to the revealed surveillance of a high-ranking employee Iqbal Khan, who was spied on at the direction of Credit Suisse management. Another scandal was associated with losses that the bank suffered due to the collapse of the American hedge fund Archegos Capital in the spring of 2021.

After being appointed board of directors of Credit Suisse, Axel Lehmann took over as chairman of Credit Suisse. The Board of Directors will also propose his candidacy for election to the post of chairman at the upcoming annual general meeting of shareholders, which will be held on April 29, 2022. Previously, he was a member of the Board of the UBS Group, first as chief operating officer of the group, and then as president of personal and corporate banking and president of UBS Switzerland. In January 2022, Lehmann worked in several academic and non-profit institutions, including as an associate professor at the University of St. Gallen.^[2]

Payment of empty private flights at the bank's expense

Later in January 2022, it also turned out that Antonio Orta-Osorio paid for empty private flights at the expense of the bank.

After Orta Osorio moved to Zurich in the spring of 2021, he flew several times from there to London and Lisbon for the weekend. Private planes paid for by Credit Suisse returned to Switzerland empty. The Jets then flew for Orta Osorio on Monday and returned the top manager back to Zurich. Since the planes were rented, they could not wait for Orta Osorio all weekend, so the bank was forced to pay for empty flights.

Credit Suisse management learned about this during an internal investigation, which also found that Orta-Osorio twice violated the quarantine rules during foreign trips.

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