The new chief operating officer is one of the more prominent figures in the European private banking sector, having also been CEO of Notenstein La Roche Privatbank.

Liechtensteinische Landesbank, the private bank, has appointed a prominent bank industry figure as its new chief operating officer after his predecessor left in May.

The Vaduz-based firm has named Dr Patrick Fürer as the next COO; he will also join the group board at the start of next year, replacing Kurt Mäder.

Dr Fürer's appointment is subject to regulatory approval.

Most recently, Dr Fürer was chief executive of Notenstein La Roche Privatbank, St Gallen. In May, Zurich-listed Vontobel bought Notenstein La Roche for SFr700 million ($706 million), part of consolidation moves in the Swiss and wider European private banking sector. (Notenstein La Roche Private Bank was born out of a merger at the end of 2015.)

Prior to his job at Notenstein, Dr Fürer was a member of the managing board of Bank Morgan Stanley (Switzerland), Zurich, as COO, where he oversaw the Swiss business and managed the integration of the Hong Kong and Singapore branches. As CEO there, he handled the sale of the Swiss business to Bank J Safra Sarasin. From 1998 to 2006 he worked for WestLB AG, where he became Group COO with global responsibility in 2003.