Bank of America is planning to hire up to two dozen staff over the next two years to expand its team covering German-speaking countries by one-fifth, and to focus on winning more business from buyout firms.

The hiring plans, which were revealed by Andreas Dombret, vice-chairman of global investment banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and head of German-speaking countries at Bank of America, come after the US bank last year pledged to pump an extra $600m (€468m) into its investment banking business as part of a growth push.