NEW YORK—Financial services giant UBS has appointed Peter McKillop as chief communication officer for the Americas region. He will be based in New York and will report to Michael Willi, global chief communication officer.

McKillop will oversee corporate communications and branding activities for the region, working closely with UBS senior business leaders in the Americas .

He brings more than 15 years of experience in corporate communications, public affairs and marketing, and close to 15 years of journalistic experience as a correspondent and bureau chief for Newsweek. He worked in the US and Asia at leading financial institutions, including JP Morgan and Bank of America, and at various agencies, most recently spending about six months at Edelman as head of New York financial services.

On the client side, as director of global communications at Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts, he oversaw the firm's rebranding and repositioning and was part of the global public affairs team that focused on multiple stakeholder and corporate responsibility issues for KKR.