RBS Coutts, the wealth management arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has hired a marketing veteran for its Asia division from HSBC Private Bank.

Yvonne Chan will start as head of marketing & communications, Asia & India, on 15 August. She will cover the region from Singapore. She has 20 years' experience in public relations and financial marketing.

Chan will report to Ian Ewart, who joined the executive committee of Coutts earlier this year. 

The move confirms Coutts chief executive Rory Tapner's vision of building a marketing-led new Coutts, said the bank. Last week Tapner told WealthBriefing in an interview that he wants to build the Coutts brand internationally.

He said: “I’m not interested in dropping the RBS name because of the RBS issues [government bailouts] but we want to emphasise the Coutts one." 

He added that under its new branding, Coutts will be referred to as “The wealth division of RBS”, so the link to the Scottish-based bank will remain very much in view.