Bank Julius Baer has appointed David Lim as chief executive of Bank Julius Baer Singapore.

Bank Julius Baer has appointed David Lim as chief executive of Bank Julius Baer Singapore with immediate effect, the Swiss private banking group announced today.

Lim takes over from Dr Thomas R Meier, who will remain based in Singapore as member of the executive board to lead the business.

This new capacity is in addition to Lim's role as head of private banking for South East Asia and as a member of the management committee for Asia and the Middle East. He is joined by Dr Markus Kobler, the chief operating officer for Asia and the Middle East, as deputy CEO for Singapore. Lim reports directly to Dr Meier.

The appointment of a Singaporean national to a key position reinforces Bank Julius Baer's commitment to placing Singapore and Asia as its second home market, being the largest operation outside of its Switzerland base, the bank said.

The Singapore office is the centre for operations in Asia and the Middle East and serves as the marketing hub for South East Asia. It currently employs more than 500 employees in the region.

Closer its home base, Julius Baer recently expanded its operations in Germany by adding 14 new relationship managers from the start of this year at its teams in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart. Heiko Schlag, who previously worked in senior positions for 19 years at HypoVereinsbank, was appointed head of private banking at Bank Julius Bär Europe and has been appointed a member of its management board.