Narcisse fills a role left vacant by James Walker, who was named head of the firm's consulting group in September.

Narcisse, who left Merrill in 2009, joins from Gold Bullion International, where he was chief executive.

He spent 17 years at Merrill Lynch, most recently as chief operating officer of Americas investment banking and was also chief operating officer of the firm's global wealth management unit. Previously he was a managing director in Merrill’s Financial Institutions Group.