Banker violates quarantine to watch Wimbledon finals and loses position

António Horta-Osório, 57, resigned as chairman of the Credit Suisse board, after less than a year in office, for violations of coronavirus quarantine rules.

A board investigation found that Portuguese Horta-Osório, former chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, broke quarantine rules, including on a trip to London last year to attend the tennis finals at Wimbledon.

The investigation, completed last week, also cited an incident in which Horta-Osório used the bank’s private jet for a personal vacation in the Maldives, according to a person familiar with the document.

“I regret that some of my personal actions have caused difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent it internally and externally,” said Horta-Osório. “I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interests of the bank and its shareholders at this crucial time.”

The sudden departure is a major embarrassment for Credit Suisse, which enlisted the Portuguese to help redefine its strategy after scandals involving Greensill Capital and family office Archegos damaged the bank’s reputation for risk management and raised doubts about its leadership.

Axel Lehmann, former chief operating officer and head of Swiss business at UBS, has been named as Credit’s new chairman.

Andrew Coombs, an analyst at Citigroup, said Horta-Osório “will stand as a small footnote in Credit Suisse’s long history”, but added that “his departure leaves Credit Suisse with a lack of strong characters at the top, and leadership issues will likely be lifted”.

Lehmann said he intends to stick with the group’s new strategy and does not plan major changes in the executive ranks.

“We are in constant dialogue with shareholders,” Lehmann told the Financial Times. “I am very confident that they will accept Antonio and the board’s decision and give the management team the necessary support it needs.”

Credit Suisse shares fell 2.3% on Monday (17).

Horta-Osório violated UK quarantine rules when he flew to London and later attended the tennis tournament finals at Wimbledon on 10 and 11 July 2021.

At the time, Switzerland was on the UK’s “amber” list of countries facing restrictions, with travelers required to self-isolate for ten days upon arrival.

In a later incident, Horta-Osório violated Swiss Covid-19 rules by entering and leaving the country in three days. He traveled from London to Zurich on 28 November, shortly after Switzerland adopted a ten-day quarantine requirement following the identification of the omicron variant.

Horta-Osório apologized for the “error” and characterized the violation as “unintentional”.
However, Swiss newspaper Blick reported that he initially sought exemptions from both the local canton and the federal government, but was told he would not receive special treatment and would need to self-isolate for a full ten days.

According to a person close to Horta-Osório, the former president used the bank’s corporate jet to make a stopover in the Maldives islands after a business trip to Asia.

_{Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves}