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Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio to express 'deep regret' to staff following affair allegations
Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, is to issue an apology to the bank’s 75,000 staff following allegations that he had an affair with a former aide to Tony Blair.
Mr Horta-Osorio, 52, is expected to issue a memo to all staff on Wednesday morning in which he will express “deep regret” for any reputational damage caused to the bank after the alleged affair with Wendy Piatt was made public.
It is understood that Mr Horta-Osorio will candidly acknowledge the impact of the revelations, but will underscore that the issue is a private matter.
The memo, which was first reported by Sky News, will also reiterate Mr Horta-Osorio's "absolute commitment" to leading Britain's biggest high street bank.
The allegations had raised questions over Mr Horta-Osorio’s focus on the role, which he has held since 2011. Lloyds announced last month that it was cutting a further 3,000 jobs.
The taxpayer-backed bank also said it would close another 200 branches as part of a cost-cutting drive.
The memo will be Mr Horta-Osorio’s first comments to staff following reports that he spent several evenings with Ms Piatt, who served as a special adviser to Mr Blair, in June.
The pair were photographed together during a visit to Singapore.
The Lloyds boss, who has been married to his wife Ana for 25 years, has been on annual leave for the past few weeks.
Mr Horta-Osorio has already been investigated by Lloyds, which found that he had not claimed business expenses for personal expenditure.
A spokesman for Lloyds declined to comment.