First Republic Bank, a small Merrill Lynch-owned bank that targets the wealthy, has been approached this year about the possibility of a management buyout, the bank's chief operating officer said, according to Reuters.

"There surely have been people who have asked us about it, but that hasn't been anything we have pursued," Katherine August-DeWilde, First Republic's president and chief operating officer, told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit.

Ms August-DeWilde was answering a question on whether First Republic had at any time in the past year considered a management buyout to become independent again, given the troubles being faced by Merrill.

Merrill Lynch bought First Republic, which offers wealth management services, last year for $1.8 billion in cash and stock. But the credit crisis forced Merrill to agree to sell itself to Bank of America last month in a deal valued then at $50 billion.

Asked if any outside investors have approached First Republic with a deal proposal, Ms August-DeWilde said: "That's not something I can comment on."

Asked if First Republic had talked to Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis yet, or if it had received any indication on whether it would be able to retain its autonomy, Ms August-DeWilde said: "It's early days."