Lloyds CEO memo to staff: 'Contingency planning underway'

Reuters

Lloyds Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio speaks at the British Chambers of Commerce annual meeting in central London February 10, 2015.

The CEO of Lloyds Banking Group moved to reassure staff that the bank's contingency plans in event of a Brexit were being activated.

In a memo to staff seen by Business Insider, Antonion Horta-Osorio said Lloyds was "one of the UK's best capitalised banks and with our contingency planning programme underway, I am confident we see in the best possible position [sic]."

Shares across the banking sector collapsed as the UK voted to leave the European Union in a referendum on June 23.

A spokesperson for Lloyds declined to immediately comment.

Here's Lloyds on Friday. It's been absolutely crushed:

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Here's the memo:

"Yesterday many of you will have voted on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union. The outcome of the Referendum has now been confirmed.

The UK's decision to leave the EU means there may be a period of uncertainty as the markets, our industry, and our customers adjust to what the result means.

Throughout the campaign our focus has been to support our customers and the UK economy, and that focus is as important today as ever.

For our customers and our Group, the message is clear - we are open for business. I know I can rely on you all to provide the service that our customers have come to expect, and importantly reassure them that they can continue to use our banking and insurance services as they currently do. Please use the materials made available to you to support these conversations.

I would like to make clear that our core strategy does not changed as one of the UK's best capitalised banks we remain committed to helping Britain prosper, continuing our support for the UK economy, and providing banking and insurance services that our customers rely on.

While we are a UK-focuses banking group, we do support customers in Europe and further afield and colleagues based in these locations may be wondering what the outcome means for them. There are no changes for any Group colleagues as a direct result of the Referendum outcome

NEXT STEPS

We announced in April that we were undertaking contingency planning in the event of a leave scenario. We will now continue this work at pace as negotiations between the UK government and the EU begin. This programmes of work will help us understand, respond and adapt to any future changes.

In the coming weeks and months we will provide regular updates to help you understand important developments and what any potential changes mean for the Group and our customers.

In recent years our business and industry have faced a number of challenges which we have overcome. However, as one of the UK's best capitalised banks and with our contingency planning programme underway, I am confident we see in the best possible position.

I ask all of you to remain focused on reassuring our customers and providing them with the banking and insurance products and services they depend on us for.

Antonio Horta-Osorio"