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Bank of America could have a new leader before the week is out.
The US retail and investment banking giant which took over Merrill Lynch at the height of the financial crisis — leaving it with massive losses — expects to say goodbye to chief executive Ken Lewis soon.
Lewis said last week that he will resign at the end of the year, ending a 40-year career at the bank, which is based in North Carolina.
But legal issues could force him out much sooner than that.
Bank of America will select an “emergency” chief executive to replace him in the next few days, according to reports in the US.
Lewis has faced anger from investors since the Merrill Lynch deal.
They stripped him of the chairman's title earlier this year, with dissidents saying he failed to tell them about spiraling losses at Merrill Lynch and bonus payments at the New York-based firm before they voted on the merger.
A five-person committee headed by new chairman Walter Massey is leading the search for a new boss.
Bank of America received $45 billion (£28 billion) in taxpayer-funded capital infusions last year.
