Ken Lewis Era at Bank of America in Its Final Stages

Bank of America chief executive Kenneth Lewis — the man responsible for the bank buying both Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch — is stepping down at yearend. Late Wednesday BoA said its board is evaluating successors, with expectations of having the new CEO named by the time Mr. Lewis departs. Thanks to the Countrywide purchase, which closed last summer, BoA is the nation's largest servicer of home mortgages and second largest originator. His departure ends what has been a stormy 12 months for the handpicked successor to Hugh McColl Jr. In regard to the Merrill deal, Mr. Lewis tussled with regulators over the purchase (the bank almost backed out), and drew ire from shareholders and others over disclosure decisions over bonuses and losses at the investment bank late last year. (Merrill was a large player in the subprime ABS, CDO and warehouse lending market.) Mr. Lewis, 62, in his most recent pubic appearance, gave no indication that he might step down, instead using a Sept. 14 speech in Japan to sound a positive tone about the company and the global economy.