The appointment of a career "private banker" to steer beleaguered wealth manager AMP Ltd out of its governance and reputational mire will stoke much conjecture about what it might also mean for the group operationally.In a move that potentially signals a bigger strategic role for AMP's banking division in the future, senior Credit Suisse executive Francesco De Ferrari will take over the reins of company at the start of December.De Ferrari has spent 17 years with Credit Suisse where he was chief executive of the bank's South East Asian operation and head of private banking in the Asia Pacific region.It was through the latter role that the American-born Swiss and Italian national became familiar with the local wealth management market.The Australian arm has been the fastest growing of Credit Suisse's 13 private banking businesses in Asia since 2016 and was among the first domestic players to abolish commissions for advisers.It is almost certain that De Ferrari will re-engineer fee and pay structures within AMP's heavily conflicted web of advice, platform and funds managements businesses.To put it mildly, De Ferrari has never been impressed by the commission-based culture that has defined revenue and returns in the Australian wealth industry.In 2016, he was arguing publicly that the tangle of fees and commissions in the local advice profession had created unsustainable conflicts of interest."This is a big conflict for Australia to be able to solve," he told the SMH at the time."Sooner or later it is inevitable that clients are going to wake up and they are going to see a system which doesn't make any sense."Asian business publications often describe De Ferrari as an "unconventional" business leader.After graduating from New York University's Stern School of Business in the early 1990s, he decided to take time out to travel the world for 12 months.He told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper in October last year that he spent most of that world tour in India building accommodation for homeless people and "picking dying people off the street" while working with Mother Teresa in Kolkata.Credit Suisse executives describe him as an outstanding communicator and a long-term business planner focused on developing sustainable returns.Throughout his long career in Asia, De Ferrari has also tried to position the Credit Suisse businesses he led at the vanguard of financial disclosure.The private banks he oversees in Asia voluntarily report financial information about their performance beyond the legal requirements of each of their 13 country markets.AMP chairman David Murray yesterday highlighted De Ferrari's record as a "proven change agent"."During his time with Credit Suisse, Francesco built strong teams and successfully set a culture that balanced the interests of clients, shareholders and all other stakeholders," he said."His experience in transforming and driving growth in businesses in Asia and Europe will be invaluable as he addresses the significant challenges facing both our business and the wider financial services sector in Australia."The challenges facing AMP are both large and indeterminate.While regulators have already signalled a sweep of legal action against the company relating to