Lloyds boss back in the driving seat

published 9 January 2012

Wearing a smart dark suit with a tie in British racing green, Lloyds Banking Group chief Antnio Horta-Osrio has eased back into the driving seat at the part-owned British lender after a two-month rest period taken so he could recover from exhaustion.

At Horta-Osrio's instigation, the board of Lloyds decided last month to restructure and reduce the chief executive officer's direct reporting lines in order to strengthen the accountabilities of his senior management team.

If reports are true, one of his first decisions may concern what to do about the group's operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). News agency Reuters reports that Abu Dhabi Commercial bank is the leading candidate to buy the group's UAE business; a number of Lloyds' European peers have been offloading assets in the Middle East in order to strengthen their balance sheets and refocus their activities, and it is thought that Lloyds is contemplating doing likewise.