Bank of America, the largest US bank holding company by assets, promoted Brian Moynihan from the bank's consumer and small business banking side to be its new chief executive officer, DPA reported.
Moynihan, 50, is to succeed embattled Kenneth Lewis, who resigned in late September over the fallout of a government-backed deal in which Bank of America bought investment banking firm Merril Lynch. Lewis irked shareholders because he went ahead with the deal without informing them of Merril Lynch's large-scale losses.
Moynihan has been in charge of the bank's 6,000 branches and its dealings with small businesses.
The prolonged search for Lewis' successor had previously focused on finding a top executive from outside the company, but several candidates turned down offers from the Bank of America, which is also the second-largest US bank by market capitalization.
According to media reports, negotiations with Robert Kelly, head of New York Mellon Corp bank, failed earlier this week over disagreements on remuneration.