Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis Bails

Bank of America (BoA) CEO Ken Lewis is to retire at the end of the year as the bank faces a New York investigation into its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

Lewis has been the center of the investigation over the government-backed deal to acquire Merrill Lynch in December. BoA failed to reveal to its shareholders that Merrill was to pay $5.8 billion in employee bonuses after being acquired, a disclosure that may have changed the shareholder vote to support the acquisition.

According to an AP report at The Huffington Post, no successor to Lewis has been named, indicating “that the Bank of America board did not expect Lewis’ decision at this time.”

Despite his recent negative publicity, Lewis is credited as being a key driver of Bank of America’s growth to become the United States’ largest, and first true national bank.

BoA shares rose 19c, or 1.12% in after hours trading off the back of the news.