UK-based EFG Private Bank, part of the Swiss EFG International Group, said today it has appointed Anthony Cooke-Yarborough as its chief executive, taking over from John Williamson who has become CEO of the parent firm.

Cooke-Yarborough was previously managing director at the firm, having joined in 2009. He has had a long career: in the 1990s he was head of international private banking in New York for Lloyds Bank and subsequently regional co-ordinator for Lloyds’ Latin American international private banking business, based in Brazil.

From 1997 to 2002 he worked for Merrill Lynch in the UK, where he was deputy head of the UK private client business; and from 2002 to 2005 he was head of UK private banking for Barclays and CEO of Barclays Private Bank.

In late April, EFG International said the continued strength of the Swiss franc, particularly against the dollar, is putting pressure on the bank’s financial results, saying that its core net profit was running behind target.