Former National Australia Bank executive Peter Flavell has been appointed chief executive of Coutts Private Bank, the largest private bank in the United Kingdom, the Australian Financial Review reports. Flavell is currently the chief executive of private wealth management at JP Morgan in Asia. Coutts is a subsidiary of RBS. HSBC management has decided not to go ahead with a planned pay freeze, saying it will find cost savings in other ways, Reuters reports. The bank announced that pay rises linked to performance reviews would go ahead. However, a hiring freeze will remain in place this year. The bank has 226,000 staff worldwide.