Bank Linth, the Swiss financial services firm, has appointed Luc Schuurmans as a new member of its management board as well as head of its recently-created private banking department, effective from 1 January 2011.

In his new role, Schuurmans will be responsible for five teams of private banking consultants as well as for the further expansion and development of the private banking business, the bank said in a statement. Prior to joining the bank, Schuurmans served as chief executive at Sherpa Outdoor.

He has also worked at BNP Paribas (Suisse), based at its private banking business in Basel, and as a senior manager at Arthur Andersen, the Zurich-based management consultancy.

The bank simultaneously announced that David Sarasin, who leads 23 branches in four regions and heads the bank's customer service operation, will see the change of his department to “private and corporate clients” as of next year.

In other recent developments, in August this year Bank Linth revealed plans to open a new branch in the canton of Zurich in the third quarter of 2011.