CHARLOTTE, N.C. --

The new entity was renamed U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management.

The purchase vaults Charlotte-based Bank of America into a market-leading position in managing money for the rich, with some $265 billion of private banking assets under management. Bank of America is the second largest bank by assets in the country.

"When you look at both firms together, we have more capabilities than any firm out there," Frances Aldrich Sevilla-Sacasa, who runs the combined unit, told The Associated Press late last week.

The new business will serve clients with at least $3 million of investable assets. BofA's Private Wealth Management is based in New York and has nearly 134,000 clients and more than 4,800 employees, a majority of whom work directly with clients. It runs nearly 150 offices in 32 states.

Sevilla-Sacasa said existing clients of the combined organization should expect no significant change in their interaction with the company.

Sevilla-Sacasa, 51, joined U.S. Trust in November 2005, after leaving Citigroup Inc.

She had been U.S. Trust's No. 2 executive until April when her boss, U.S. Trust Chief Executive Peter Scaturro, who was expected to run the combined private banking unit, abruptly announced his departure after reported clashes with Bank of America executives.

The bank disputes any conflict with Scaturro.

http://www.centredaily.com/business/story/141418.html

Swanny Note : Is anyone overseeing this crooked institution? Bank of America has got to be the most crooked Bank I ever had the non pleasure of dealing with.