Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Shiv Gupta as head of its private clients business in India, a business that the UK bank acquired from ABN Amro in 2007.

Previously based in RBS Coutts’ international headquarters in Singapore, Mr Gupta was responsible for the bank’s private banking business in Thailand and the non-resident South Asian business in Southeast and North Asia, RBS said.

Meanwhile, RBS said that Paul Davies, the former head of the private clients business in India, will move to Hong Kong to lead the bank’s efforts in establishing a private banking proposition in China and concurrently assume the role of branch manager for the private bank in Hong Kong.

RBS said Mr Gupta was one of the founding members of the RBS Coutts South Asian team and was “instrumental in growing the business into one of the most successful in the region”.

“Our links with the wider RBS business in India enable us to offer clients a broad suite of services, in addition to the range of private banking services,” Mr Gupta said.

Mr Gupta is a member of the India management team headed by Meera H Sanyal, country executive for India. The Private Clients business in India forms part of the RBS South Asian wealth management strategy driven by Raj Sriram, global head of the South Asian wealth management business.

"There are huge opportunities that we can leverage to expand our leadership in the South Asian wealth management business globally, and India plays a key part in our strategy,” said Mr Sriram.

Mr Gupta leads a team comprising approximately 60 staff located in 5 offices across India, including 30 private bankers.