Raphaels Bank, the Buckinghamshire-based private bank, has appointed Tony Wilson - latterly of Travelex - to head up its new commercial foreign exchange division.

Wilson was most recently managing director of Travelex Global Payment Solutions for Europe, having previously worked at Equifax, GE Capital Mortgage Insurance and Clydesdale Bank. 

In his new role Wilson is charged with spearheading Raphaels’ development as a provider of commercial FX services to private clients, corporates and small- to medium-sized enterprises. The bank’s commercial FX services division, which provides spot and forward transactions, has recently been restructured and has been the subject of significant investment in both systems and processes, the firm said. This investment, according to the bank’s chief executive, Miles Roberts, has put Raphaels in a strong position to compete head-on with the high street banks and non-bank commercial FX providers.

Raphaels, which traces its history back to 1787, asks that clients have a minimum of £200,000 (about $300,000) in net assets.