Brian Moynihan:

Bank of America Corp. promoted Brian T. Moynihan to president and chief executive, ending a 11-week search with a unanimous boardroom vote in favor of a longtime insider.

The 50-year-old Mr. Moynihan now runs the Charlotte, N.C., bank's sprawling consumer and small-business operations, including about 6,000 retail branches in the U.S. An Ohio-born lawyer, he is one of the few high-ranking holdovers from the 2004 acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp. Long considered a potential CEO, Mr. Moynihan nearly left last year after spurning an offer to run Bank of America's credit-card unit in Delaware.

In an interview Wednesday night, Mr. Moynihan said he doesn't intend to exit any of the company's current businesses. He also doesn't foresee any "big changes" in the strategy of the nation's largest bank by assets.

"We just have to execute," he said. Mr. Moynihan takes over Jan. 1, one day after the previously announced retirement of Kenneth D. Lewis, the company's CEO since 2001.

Bank of America Chairman Walter E. Massey, who led the search committee to find Mr. Lewis's successor, said in an interview that Mr. Moynihan is "comfortable on Wall Street and on Main Street," adding that his "wealth of experience" exceeded "all other candidates for the job."

Mr. Moynihan didn't discuss compensation as part of his election as CEO and his pay will be determined at a later date. Mr. Massey declined to discuss what led directors to choose him over Gregory Curl, the chief risk officer at Bank of America who also was a strong candidate for the job.

Mr. Curl will keep his current post "unless someone decided differently," said company spokesman Robert Stickler. "Everybody right up through Brian wants him to stay."

Some analysts breathed a sigh of relief that the fitful, thorny search process triggered by Mr. Lewis's unexpected retirement announcement Sept. 30 is finally over. The move exposed divisions on a board cobbled together last summer at the request of U.S. regulators, with some directors pushing for an outsider and others arguing that an insider would best maintain stability and prevent an executive exodus.

Regulators appeared to favor looking outside, but that scenario suffered a setback when talks with Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Chief Executive Robert Kelly fell apart Monday because of differences over his pay package and other issues. At least several other outsiders said no or told friends they weren't interested, including Laurence Fink, chairman and CEO of money manager BlackRock Inc., and Citigroup Inc. directors Eugene McQuade and Michael O'Neill, both former executives at banks acquired by Bank of America.

"It's good that they have got somebody, period," said Nancy Bush, an analyst with NAB Research LLC in Annandale, N.J. "It will not be a particular surprise to the market, and there will be divided opinions. From my perspective, go with who you know and heal that company."

Mr. Moynihan's immediate challenges include shoring up morale that was undermined by the financial crisis and controversy over the company's takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. Bank of America's profit rebounded to $6.47 billion in the first nine months of 2009, but the bank still is threatened by losses on loans made during the housing bubble and America's smaller appetite for credit now.

The CEO search also fueled worries that Bank of America's headquarters would become a bargaining chip in the negotiations. Mr. Moynihan, who lives near Boston, said Wednesday night that Charlotte will remain the company's hometown. Last year, Charlotte lost its other major bank, Wachovia Corp., which was bought by Wells Fargo & Co. after the takeover of Golden West Financial Corp.

Mr. Moynihan's banking career began in 1993 at the former Fleet Financial Group Inc., where he was deputy general counsel. Three of the Bank of America search committee's six members were executives or directors at the Boston bank, giving Mr. Moynihan strong allies as he tries to mend fences as chief executive.

Detractors claim Mr. Moynihan is too young to lead Bank of America and isn't likely to inspire its 280,000-employee work force. In addition, his role in the Merrill deal could attract even more unflattering attention now that he is becoming CEO. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating disclosures made by Bank of America executives before and after shareholders voted to approve the securities firm's takeover.
Mr. Moynihan's hiring marks a departure from the bank's history of homegrown chief executives who rose through the ranks of predecessors NationsBank Corp. and NCNB Corp. Mr. Lewis, 62, went to work at the bank right out of college and is retiring after a 40-year career there.

In contrast, Mr. Moynihan worked at a Providence, R.I., law firm for nine years before quitting to join Fleet, a client for which he worked on takeovers and other issues. "It's a horrible feeling to know I will be leaving the firm," Mr. Moynihan said at the time, according to Duncan Johnson, a partner who was his first boss and mentor. "But I have very strong ambitions to rise high in the ranks of Fleet."

During the search, Mr. Lewis urged Bank of America directors to choose the 61-year-old Mr. Curl over Mr. Moynihan, saying the older executive would be less disruptive. In a statement Wednesday, Mr. Lewis called Mr. Moynihan "the right person to lead our company forward."