Lloyds says CEO did not break expenses rules

LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group (Other OTC: LLOBF - news) said on Wednesday its Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osório had not breached company policy after a British newspaper accused him of running up a big hotel bill while on a business trip to Singapore.

Britain's biggest selling newspaper, The Sun, carried a front-page story on Tuesday accusing the married chief executive of the taxpayer-supported bank of running up the bill while spending time with another woman.

The bank said the chief executive paid his own personal expenses while he was in the city-state for a conference two months ago.

Lloyds Chairman Norman Blackwell looked into the issue after the newspaper reported that Horta-Osorio had spent 450 pounds ($580) on room service and items from the mini-bar, and 550 pounds on visits to the hotel spa, a source at the bank said.

"In this case there is no breach of our policy and the personal expenses are paid for by Antonio," the bank said in a statement.

"We do not comment on personal matters," it added.

The allegations come at a sensitive time for Lloyds as it announced two weeks ago it is cutting a further 3,000 staff and prepares to close 200 branches by the end of next year.

Horta-Osório, who is Portuguese, has run Lloyds for the past five years and is highly regarded for turning around the lender after it struggled following the financial crisis. ($1 = 0.7646 pounds) (Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Keith Weir)