National Australia Bank has appointed a new chief executive for Asia.

Effective immediately, Spiro Pappas assumes the CEO post and will be responsible for managing NAB's Asian operations and bridging ties with the bank's Australia and New Zealand businesses.

Pappas joined the company in 2009 as head of the institutional bank. Prior to that, he spent 11 years with ABN AMRO Bank, where he held a number of senior roles in the debt capital markets, client coverage for banks and non-bank institutions and corporate finance and advisory units. His has also worked for Deutsche Bank in Sydney, London and New York.

His appointment was concurrent with the hire of David Thorn as global industry sector head, based in Asia. For this post, Thorn will relocate to Hong Kong from Sydney in December 2012. He was previously the head of NAB's consumer sectors division.

National Australia Bank is one of Australia's largest banks with an integrated wealth management business. It has branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Mumbai, Jakarta and Beijing.