Senior Change at Rebranded Coutts in Switzerland

Paul Adams

18 February 2008

RBS Coutts has appointed James Buchanan-Michaelson as head of Private Banking for the UK, Latin America and the Middle East with a seat on the Swiss Executive Board. Mr Buchanan-Michaelson took over these responsibilities from Will Lawton, chief investment officer, who was given temporary charge of these additional tasks following the departure of the former head of Private Banking and deputy chief executive officer, Thomas Schmidt, last September. Mr Buchanan-Michaelson joined the bank on 1 January 2008 from Coutts & Co in London where he was responsible for developing and implementing Coutts’ ultra high net worth strategy as a senior client partner in the Private Office team. He started his career at the Chase Manhattan Bank where he headed the Investor Client Development within Global Markets. Latterly he was head of Strategy and Product Management for the Europe Africa and Middle East Region for the Chase Global Private Bank. Before joining Coutts he was a senior banker for UK and Ireland at JPMorgan Private Bank, where he successfully acquired and managed ultra high net worth client relationships. This senior appointment coincided with a re-branding of the fourth-largest foreign owned private bank in Switzerland. On 1 January 2008, Coutts Bank von Ernst became RBS Coutts. Head of Corporate Communications & Marketing, Linda Puetter, told WealthBriefing the name change highlights, first, that the bank is part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and second, that it shares in the long tradition of Coutts in private banking. The foundations of RBS Coutts draw on Coutts & Co, its sister company founded at London in 1692, and Bank von Ernst & Co Ltd, a Swiss private banking institution since 1869. Coutts can trace the origins of its Swiss business back to 1930 when the Bank für Industrie und Unternehmungen in Zurich was founded. It became Handelsbank in Zurich in 1953 and, with the parent change to National Westminster Bank in 1975 the name changed to Handelsbank NatWest. Then in 1997, the company took on the Coutts brand becoming Coutts Bank . This merged with Bank von Ernst in 2003 and then it was renamed Coutts Bank von Ernst in October 2004. RBS Coutts offers its clients a broad spectrum of banking products and services, as well as providing expertise in trust and fiduciary services. RBS Coutts is headquartered in Zurich, with branches in Geneva, Basle, Bern, Lugano and Soluturn. With offices in Hong Kong, Marbella, Montevideo, Singapore and Tokyo, and with its business units in Asia, Europe and the offshore centres of Jersey, the Isle of Man and Cayman, RBS Coutts managed assets of more than SFr50 billion in 13 locations with over 1,100 employees at the end of 2006. Ms Puetter believes that the link between these two international brands, RBS and Coutts, reflects the resolve of RBS Coutts to continue its expansion in the international markets, and, of course, the successful integration of Bank von Ernst which is no longer part of the brand name. She says that clients will welcome this latest name change. The brand concentrates on the benefits that the organisational situation entails: “The RBS Coutts brand unites the strength, performance and international reach of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group with the tradition and service excellence associated with the Coutts brand. And as a bank organised in accordance with Swiss law, RBS Coutts Bank fulfils client expectations in terms of confidentiality, security and quality”.