Coutts, the private bank and wealth manager owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, has appointed three new members to its Middle East advisory board as part of its ongoing expansion plans in the region.

Coutts, a private bank and wealth manager owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, has appointed three new members to its Middle East advisory board as part of its ongoing expansion plans in the region.

Coutts said in a statement that it had expanded its Middle East advisory board with the appointments - Hind Bahwan, Raja Easa Al Gurg and Lama Al Sulaiman.The firm's Middle East advisory board was created in October 2013 and meets twice a year to provide counsel to management in the region.

Bahwan is the founder and chairperson of Bahwan CyberTek Group and director of Suhail Bahwan Group. She is also a member of the Middle Centre advisory board of the London School of Economics and a board member of the Family Business Network for GCC.

Easa Al Gurg is the managing director of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group and president of the Dubai Business Women Council.  She is also chairperson of the board of directors for Dubai Healthcare City Authority; Board member of the Dubai chamber of commerce and industry (DCCI), Dubai Women’s Association and HSBC UAE.

Al Sulaiman is vice chairwoman and board member of the Jeddah chamber of commerce in Saudi Arabia. She is the head of the Saudi delegation in ILO and a board member and business developer at Rolaco Holdings.

“We are thrilled to welcome Hind, Raja and Lama to our Advisory Board, and are confident their collective knowledge and leadership will be of great value to us. Increasingly Middle Eastern women are taking leading business and entrepreneurial roles and we are very pleased to add three of the most distinguished Middle Eastern business women to our Advisory Board,” Michael Dismorr, chairman for Coutts Middle East advisory board said.

There have been a number of moves at the bank recently. In April, Coutts appointed Saleh Ali Al Turki, Sohail Al Mazrui, Rami El Nimer and Bader Al Kharafi to the advisory board. Meanwhile, in March, Coutts’ chief investment officer for Asia and the Middle East, Gary Dugan, left the firm to join the National Bank of Abu Dhabi as chief investment officer.