Feb 12 (Reuters) - Bank of America ( BAC ) has doubled

its banking team in Switzerland, seizing on a potential

opportunity to gain market share as bigger Swiss rivals deal

with tougher regulation.

Switzerland has pledged to put in place stricter banking

rules since the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse, which was then

taken over by UBS. At the center of the overhaul are

plans to make UBS hold more capital to prevent a repeat of the

crisis.

"Recently, with the disruption that went on in Switzerland,

we added some bankers to build our team there," Bank of America ( BAC )

CEO Brian Moynihan said at a conference on Wednesday, adding

that the size of the team doubled "pretty quickly".

The Swiss government has said it wants stricter capital

requirements for UBS and its three biggest peers - PostFinance,

Raiffeisen and Zürcher Kantonalbank.

In December, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said tougher regulation

across the board could weaken the Swiss financial sector against

competition. He said on Monday that doesn't expect "much clarity

until May."

BofA's international business is overseen by Bernard Mensah,

who also heads Merrill Lynch International.