Gibraltar in Florida Exploring a Sale: Report

Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust in Coral Gables, Fla., may be for sale.

The $1.7 billion-asset bank is in talks with several potential buyers, the South Florida Business Journal reported in its online edition Wednesday, citing sources knowledgeable about the matter.

A spokeswoman for Gibraltar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gibraltar, which specializes in private banking and wealth management services, is owned by a group of local investors who bought the firm for $93 million in 2009 from Boston Private Financial Holdings (BPFH).

The bank has eight branches, including six in south Florida.

Gibraltar, which lost roughly $3.9 million last year, has operated under a cease-and-desist order related to anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act compliance that the Office of Thrift Supervision imposed in 2010.

Gibraltar named Adolfo Henriques chairman and chief executive last May as part of a shakeup that stemmed from the bank's ties to a lawyer convicted of running a $1.2 billion investor scheme. Henriques, who was the bank's president, succeeded Steven Hayworth, who founded the company in 1984.