Merrill Lynch Wealth Management has made a trio of hires to expand its Swiss private banking operations in Geneva, appointing Concetta Caruso as chief operating officer, Sophie Chapuisat as global head of intermediary business and Christopher Robinson as head of legal, all at Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse).

The hires are said to be part of plans to build the Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse) team, target growth in key markets and “strengthen our offering to clients in EMEA, Latin America and Asia-Pacific”, according to Peter Schmid, general manager and chief executive of Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse).

Caruso was latterly at Capital Group, where she was global head of global institutional operations, responsible for supporting the firm’s business development. Prior to this she worked at JP Morgan (Suisse) where she was COO, head of technology and operations hub for international private banking. In her new role as COO at Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse), Caruso will be primarily responsible for overseeing the operations of the unit in Geneva and Zurich.

Chapuisat joins from Banque Heritage (Suisse) where she was chief strategy officer responsible for business strategy and development. Prior to this, she worked at Barclays Bank (Suisse) as head of investment management, supporting private bankers. She has also worked at HSBC Republic Bank (Suisse) and Citibank Private Bank in Geneva and New York.

As global head of intermediary business at Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse), Chapuisat will be responsible for heading the sales activities of the services and platform to financial advisors around the world and further improving client experience.

Robinson was most recently group chief compliance officer at Hinduja Bank, before which he worked at Union Bancaire Privée for ten years as deputy chief compliance officer and deputy chief of legal. In his new role as head of legal, Robinson will be responsible for overseeing Swiss and international legal and regulatory matters for Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse).

Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse) caters to high and ultra high net worth individuals; it was acquired in 1984 and is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co. Aside from its headquarters in Geneva, it has branches in Zurich and Dubai, and representative offices in Panama, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bahrain.