Royal Bank of Canada has appointed prominent City figure Jim Pettigrew as a non-executive director of Royal Bank of Canada Limited, its London-headquartered European subsidiary.

Mr Pettigrew, who currently holds non-executive directorships at Hermes and the Edinburgh Investment Trust, has held a number of high-ranking roles within financial services in his career, including having been chief executive of CMC Markets, chief operating officer at Ashmore Group and group finance director at ICAP.

“Jim brings to RBC a first-class track record in financial services and a wealth of experience gained over 20 years in the City. Jim has been credited with the growth and profitability of a number of leading companies and his appointment significantly enhances RBC’s European board,” said John Roberts, non-executive chairman of Royal Bank of Canada Europe Limited.

Last month RBC Wealth Management arm boosted its London-based onshore business with a trio of appointments as part of plans to further expand into the UK domestic market.

Shervin Mellegard joined the UK domestic team as managing director, while Samuel Palmer and Neil Jeffries were appointed director and wealth manager respectively.

Mr Mellegard was most recently with US-based Sovereign International, prior to which he worked for Barclays Wealth for seven years.  Mr Palmer, who previously worked for UBS, is charged with building out RBC’s offering for UK-based family offices; Mr Jeffries, who also joined from UBS, is to serve RBC’s domestic onshore clients.

RBC Wealth Management also said it plans to further expand its UK domestic team with several additional hires over the coming months.