By Ian McConnell

Business Editor

ANTONIO Horta-Osorio, former chief executive of Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds Banking Group, is joining Italy’s Mediobanca as a senior adviser.

The Milan-based bank, which has activities spanning wealth management, consumer banking, corporate and investment banking, and principal investing, said the veteran banker would support the implementation of its strategy.

It added that Mr Horta-Osorio would be “working in particular with the co-heads of corporate and investment banking, Francisco Bachiller and Giuseppe Baldelli, on expanding client relationships and deal activity across Europe”.

Alberto Nagel, chief executive officer of Mediobanca, said: “I have known Antonio for many years, and I have always been impressed by his unique experience and distinguished track record in senior executive roles, with an outstanding ability to lead companies through strategic rethinking and gear changes.”

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Mr Horta-Osorio, who started his career in banking at Citigroup in Portugal in 1987, was from 2011 to 2021 group chief executive of Lloyds.

During his time at the helm, he led Lloyds back into full private ownership, following a multi-billion-pound bail-out by the UK taxpayer amid the 2008/09 global financial crisis.

In April 2021, he was appointed chairman of Credit Suisse Group, where “he remained in service until January 2022”, Mediobanca noted.

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Mr Horta-Osorio was knighted in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to financial services and voluntary services to mental healthcare and culture.

Mediobanca declared: “With a career spanning over 30 years at the highest levels in the European financial sector, Antonio Horta-Osorio is a highly respected senior executive within the financial services industry.”