Credit Suisse boss resigns over Covid breaches

The chairman of global banking giant Credit Suisse, Antonio Horta-Osorio, has resigned with immediate effect after breaking Covid quarantine rules.

Horta-Osorio, who was with the bank for just nine months, left following an internal investigation, reports BBC.

The former boss of Lloyds Banking Group joined Credit Suisse after a series of scandals at the Swiss bank. But it has emerged he breached Covid rules last year, including by attending the Wimbledon tennis finals.

“I regret that a number of my personal actions have led to difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent the bank internally and externally,” Horta-Osorio said in a statement issued by the bank.

“I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time,” he added.

Last month, a preliminary investigation by Credit Suisse had found that Horta-Osorio had breached Covid-19 rules.

He attended the Wimbledon tennis finals in July at a time when the UK’s Covid-19 restrictions required him to be in quarantine.

Horta-Osorio also breached Swiss Covid restrictions when, according to Reuters, he flew into the country on 28 November but left on 1 December. Swiss rules meant he should have quarantined for 10 days upon his arrival.

Horta-Osorio joined Credit Suisse in April last year following a series of scandals at the bank,

In February 2020, then-Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam resigned after it was revealed the bank had spied on senior employees. Thiam denied knowledge of the spying operations.

Credit Suisse has also been hit with huge losses in connection with the failed financial firm Greensill - which backed Liberty Steel - and Archegos, the US hedge fund which collapsed last year.

Last year, in a report into its relationship with Archegos, Mr Horta-Osorio said: “We are committed to developing a culture of personal responsibility and accountability.”

There are two narratives emerging from Antonio Horta-Osorio’s short-lived tenure at the top of one of Swiss banking giants.

One is that he broke the rules, was investigated and, having been found in breach, was asked to step down.

But allies of the former boss of Lloyds Banking Group insist that the board of Credit Suisse could have censured him rather than forced him out and suggest that the Swiss bank had not appreciated his efforts to reform an executive team and a culture that has been hit a series of scandals in recent years.