A private bank on an expansion drive has snapped up the former boss of Coutts as part of a major hiring drive focused on Asia. The new recruit is an elder statesman of private banking. 

Michael Morley is one of the world's best-known private bankers: he ran Britain's Coutts & Co until last year, which is famous as the bank of Queen Elizabeth.

Morley, who was intricately involved in the same of Coutts' international division more than two years ago, is exquisitely well-connected.

He is a member of the British Bankers' Association, where he chairs its wealth management and private banking advisory board, and is also on the board of trade group PIMFA, the Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice Association. 

Hiring Drive

The 60-year-old Morley has been hired by Deutsche Bank as head of wealth management in the U.K., the Frankfurt-based lender said on Wednesday. He has long ties to Geneva, where he worked for years for both Lloyds and Barclays.

Morley's hire is part of a 100-strong private banking hiring drive by Deutsche, which is attempting to bolster its wealth management arm while lessening its profile as a bond-trading powerhouse. The German bank is also pouring 65 million euros into a digital push.

Brexit Ties

The U.K. banker's appointment is effective next week, when he will move into the ZigZag in London's Victoria area. He will report to Peter Hinder, the recently-named head of wealth management at Deutsche for Switzerland as well as Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

«Michael’s appointment is extremely timely, given the changes for our clients implied by Brexit and the need to maintain and build bridges to Europe and the world,» Hinder said in a statement.