Oct. 11--Kenneth Lewis, CEO of Bank of America Corp., never spent much time in Rhode Island after his Charlotte, N.C.-based bank bought FleetBoston Financial Corp. in 2004.

During a visit to Providence later that year to explain the acquisition of the biggest bank in New England, Lewis stopped by The Providence Journal. He seemed tense and uncomfortable answering questions about the North Carolina bank's commitment to jobs, resources and charitable contributions in Rhode Island. He never came back to the newsroom.

Lewis, 62, is now on his way out. He was pushed from the CEO's job after being criticized by regulators, lawmakers and shareholders for failing to tell investors about bonus payments and growing losses at Merrill Lynch & Co., the Wall Street-brokerage he acquired. His last day as CEO is Dec. 31.

Lewis' quick exit, with no transition plan in place, has left the board of directors scrambling to find a short-term fill-in and then a permanent replacement to run the biggest bank in the United States, in terms of assets. But out of the succession crisis may come an opportunity for Rhode Island.

One of the candidates for the top job is Brian Moynihan, a Brown University graduate and the last of the gang of top executives put together by Terry Murray, former CEO of FleetBoston, who still works at Bank of America.

Moynihan, 50, started as deputy general counsel in 1993 at the old Providence-based Fleet Financial Group. He climbed the corporate ladder to become one of Murray's top lieutenants and got involved in local organizations. He is a former chairman of the Travelers Aid Society of Rhode Island and the Providence Haitian Project Inc. Moynihan stayed in Murray's inner circle when Fleet Financial merged with Boston-based BankBoston Corp. in 1999.

Even after Murray retired, and his former top Fleet executives left Bank of America, Moynihan stayed and rose in the ranks.

He moved from Boston to New York to take over the global wealth and investment management unit and also served as the bank's general counsel. In August, he was promoted to run the consumer and small-business banking unit, the company's largest division.

That resume has put Moynihan in a position to compete for the top job, and he may have some advocates on the special six-member board of the company's directors set up to find Lewis' replacement. The group includes three holdovers from the old FleetBoston board, including Thomas Ryan, chairman, president and CEO of CVS Caremark Corp.; Charles "Chad" Gifford, a former CEO of FleetBoston whose family has ties to the old Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank; and Thomas May, CEO of Nstar.