BoA to Acquire U.S. Trust for $3.3B

Bank of America will acquire U.S. Trust from Charles Schwab for $3.3 billion and hopes to ease integration by retaining key staff who work with clients and through technology, The Wall Street Journal reports.

While there has been some speculation that BoA will retire the U.S. Trust brand name, the president of BoA’s wealth and investment management unit seemed to indicate otherwise. “Our anticipation is that we want to preserve the legacy of this brand and make it work for us,” said Brian Moynihan.

BoA has proven in recent years that it can acquire other companies smoothly, having done so with FleetBoston Financial in 2004 and MBNA this year.

For Schwab, the sale makes sense since the private banking unit never matched its discount broker model. Schwab acquired U.S. Trust in 2000.