Bank of China (Suisse) has appointed Peter Triggs as deputy general manager and head of international private banking, recruiting him from Citigroup Private Bank, where he has held a number of senior positions, WealthBriefing can exclusively report.

Mr Triggs has worked at Citigroup since 1991. Most recently, he was head of the Corporate Finance Group at Citigroup, where he also personally handled a family office and advised ultra-high net worth individuals and families from the Middle East.

Previously, Mr Triggs was responsible for the bank’s private banking activities in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region. Based in Singapore from 2001 to 2004, he led a team of 25 private bankers, and 25 associate bankers, plus a full product team.

Before moving to Asia, Mr Triggs set up the Europe and Middle East marketing team and spent nearly six years in Zurich on the management team of Cititrust (Switzerland) Limited, with marketing responsibilities.

Bank of China, a state-owned bank, has been stepping up its private wealth operations in Switzerland. The creation of the Swiss private bank by such a large Chinese institution signifies how Chinese economic growth is no longer just attracting Western banks into the Asian giant, but encouraging Chinese banks and other firms to spread into Western markets also.

The bank won regulatory clearance to set up a Swiss private banking operation last November.