Arbuthnot Latham, the private banking division of Arbuthnot Banking Group, today announced the appointment of Steve Hicks as chief operating officer and business development director, a new role for the UK-based bank.

Arbuthnot Latham, the private banking division of Arbuthnot Banking Group, today announced the appointment of Steve Hicks as chief operating officer and business development director, a new role for the UK-based bank. As chief operating officer at Arbuthnot Latham, Mr Hicks assumes responsibility for the operational platform of the business. As business development director he will lead the sales and marketing process. Mr Hicks joins from Barclays where, since October 2003, he was the head of Premier Banking with responsibility for 300,000 affluent and high net worth clients and 600 relationship managers. He has 28 years of industry experience including senior roles in Corporate Banking, Retail Banking and Wealth Management. "We have ambitious growth plans and part of my role will be to ensure that our service offering to clients is scaleable," Mr Hicks told WealthBriefing. "My broad background in banking, and especially in distributions and marketing strategy will be a tremendous help in this new role," he said. John Reed, chief executive officer, said: “We are delighted that Steve will be joining us as he brings with him vast experience in both operational and sales management. Last week, the group announced the appointment of Mike Bussey as chief executive officer from 1 October 2007. Mr Bussey will succeed John Reed, who will become a vice chairman of Arbuthnot Latham and takes up the newly created group role of International Business Development Director. Mr Bussey was chief executive of the Private Banking and Trust business at NM Rothschild & Sons for four years, prior to which he had been chief executive of Schroders Private Banking. Previously, he worked at HSBC for over 20 years in various senior managerial positions across Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia, Africa and the Americas.