Bank of America Merrill Lynch has spun off its Asian buyout team to a consortium of specialist investors as US banks continue to pare back their private equity activities in the wake of tough new regulations governing alternative assets.

BoAML has sold a portfolio of Asian private equity assets to a consortium led by secondaries firm Paul Capital and HarbourVest Global Private Equity, a listed fund managed by an affiliate of US secondaries firm HarbourVest Partners, for an undisclosed sum.