U.S. Trust plans hire more than 200 new private bankers and financial advisors this year, increasing its professional staff by almost 10 per cent, according to a report in Reuters.

The private bank, which has been part of Bank of America since 2006, has been hard hit by defections for the past several years and reports that it may be for sale after BoA bought Merrill Lynch in early 2009.

But Bank of America’s wealth management chief Sallie Krawcheck has steadfastly denied the reports, and in recent weeks US Trust has made several key hires, most notably Grant Boyd from Wells Fargo, where he oversaw private banking in the southeast from Atlanta.

Other recent hires include Karen Reynolds Sharkey from JPMorgan Chase in New York, and private client advisers John Rogers from Brown Brothers Harriman and Jill Fopiano from Citigroup.

US Trust manages about $189 billion in client assets and has 2,200 client-facing professionals, with 140 offices in 32 states.