ANZ hires former Coutts wealth executive to lead private banking business.

ANZ, one of Australia's "Big Four" banks, has hired a former Coutts executive to lead its private banking business in the country. 

Mike Norfolk brings 15 years of private banking experience to the role and most recently served as head of private banking at Coutts, the wealth division of Royal Bank of Scotland. 

"We are focussed on delivering a distinctive private banking proposition and access to world-class investment capabilities, as well as connecting clients to the significant wealth flows across the Asia-Pacific region," said Joyce Phillips, chief executive for Global Wealth at ANZ, in a statement.

Norfolk moves to Sydney from London and will begin in his new role in early 2014.

ANZ recently partnered with Swiss private bank Vontobel to have the latter act as advisor to its global wealth business for an initial period of five years, particularly in areas of global asset allocation and equity investing. The Australian bank said it intends to strengthen this alliance further in 2014 by training staff in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

At Coutts, meanwhile, Norfolk is replaced by Stuart Newey, who joined Coutts in 2001 and has served in several roles across its private banking and wealth management offerings. Most recently, leading the charge on the firm’s business improvement initiatives, implementing WMPP and re-engineering critical business processes.