December 17, 2009

Finally, there is white smoke at Bank of America: Brian T. Moynihan was selected to become the next chief executive.After a two-and-a-half-month search, Bank of America late Wednesday named Mr. Moynihan, the head of its consumer banking business, to succeed Kenneth D. Lewis.The announcement ends one of the industry’s most closely watched successions in recent memory. In recent weeks, Bank of America reached out to executives at other big banks, only to have them rebuff its advances.

And the bank learned that another internal contender, Gregory L. Curl, had become a potential target in an investigation by the attorney general of New York. Two board members spoke with the attorney general’s staff on Wednesday to discuss that investigation, which centers on the bank’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch last year, and the broad outlines of a potential settlement.