Robert Cormie is now regional vice president and managing director for private banking, Asia. He will be responsible for growing the bank's private banking operations in the Asia-Pacific region, while reporting to Alexandra Dousmanis-Curtis, senior vice president and head of private banking for Canada and Asia, and Albert Yu, chief executive for Asia.

Cormie joins the company from CIBC, and has brought with him a team of relationship managers who specialise in the needs of high net worth individuals. 

"Current wealth creation trends in Asia bode well for our plans of creating a truly global service for wealthy individuals looking to manage their investments across Asia and North America," said Dousmanis-Curtis in a statement. 

BMO has a considerable presence in Asia-Pacific, including three offices in China via BMO China, branches in Hong Kong and Singapore and representative offices in Taipei and New Delhi. It also owns Lloyd George Management in Hong Kong and holds 28 per cent and 19.99 per cent equity stakes in Fullgoal Fund Management (Shanghai) and COFCO Trust (Beijing), respectively. 

BMO's private banking business offers a range of financial services to high net worth and ultra high net worth clients. It is part of BMO's Private Client group, the wealth management division of BMO Financial.