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Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio on his alleged affair: We all make mistakes
Lloyds Banking Group's chief executive has apologised for the scandal surrounding claims he had an affair and pledged to "learn from those mistakes", in a memo sent to staff today.
Antonio Horta-Osorio was pictured with Wendy Piatt, who is not his wife, while on a business trip to Singapore, in pictures published by The Sun newspaper, which alleged he had undertaken a four-year affair. Dr Piatt is a former adviser to Tony Blair and is a director of the Russell Group of universities.
Mr Horta-Osorio did not directly refer to the claims, instead calling the reports "speculation by certain newspapers" and noting that "my personal life is obviously a private matter" and that "I pay for my personal expenses whilst away and only reclaim what is a business expense".
The chief told staff that he remains committed to the bank and will not resign.
"I deeply regret being the cause of so much adverse publicity and the damage that has been done to the group’s reputation. It has detracted from the great work which you do for our customers on a daily basis and from the major accomplishments of the past five years," he said.
"I have been a strong advocate of expecting the highest professional standards from everyone at the bank, and that includes me. I will continue to strive to meet those standards. Having the highest professional standards raises the bar against which we are judged and as I have always said we must recognise that mistakes will be made.
"I don’t expect anyone to get everything right all the time. The important point being how we learn from those mistakes and the decisions and actions we take afterward."
Mr Horta-Osorio introduced a new "Code of Personal Responsibility" for staff three years ago that told workers to behave properly.
The code tells staff to ask "would I be happy to tell my colleagues, family and friends about my actions?" and "would Lloyds Banking Group be comfortable if my actions were reported externally?" before taking any course of action.
A Lloyds investigation concluded that all of Mr Horta-Osorio's expenses claims were strictly business-related.