The Chief Executive of one of the UK’s largest banks will be offering his view of what the future holds for the UK banking sector at the University of Essex’s Colchester Campus next month.

António Horta-Osório, Chief Executive of Santander UK, will be speaking on how the banking sector must change following the global financial crisis.

The UK banking sector today is unrecognisable from what it was three years ago. As the UK fights its way out of recession, financial stability and having confidence in the institutions in which money and savings are placed is at the forefront of the public conscious.

Mr Horta-Osório was appointed Chief Executive of Santander UK in August 2006 and oversaw the purchase of the Bradford & Bingley savings business and the acquisition of Alliance & Leicester. In June 2009 he was appointed as a non-Executive Director to the Court of The Bank of England.

Mr Horta-Osório will be speaking to a public audience – and answering their questions – on Wednesday 6 October at 6.30pm in the University’s Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall.

Admission is free but please register in advance to secure a place, e-mail events@essex.ac.uk or telephone 01206 872807.

Notes to editors
1. For more information, or to attend this event, please contact the university of Essex Communications Office, telephone: 01206 872400, e-mail: comms@essex.ac.uk

2. António Horta-Osório first joined as a non-Executive Director of Abbey in November 2004, becoming Chief Executive in August 2006. In 2008, his responsibilities extended following Abbey’s purchase of the Bradford & Bingley savings business and the acquisition of Alliance & Leicester and in June 2009 he was appointed as a non-Executive Director to the Court of The Bank of England.
He is an Executive Vice President of The Santander Group and a member of its Management Committee; and also the Chairman of Santander Totta in Portugal where he was CEO from 1999 - 2006. He was previously CEO of Banco Santander Brazil.
António Horta-Osório started his career at CitiBank Portugal where he was Head of Capital Markets. At the same time, he was an assistant professor at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. He then worked for Goldman Sachs in New York and London, focusing on corporate finance activities in Portugal. In 1993, he joined Grupo Santander as CEO of Banco Santander de Negocios Portugal.
He is a graduate in Management and Business Administration at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, and has an MBA from INSEAD - where he was awarded the Henry Ford II Prize - and an AMP from Harvard Business School.