Bank of America CEO Candidates ‘Tainted,’ Finger Says

Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, shouldn’t promote executives Brian Moynihan or Gregory Curl to chief executive because they’re “tainted” by the Merrill Lynch & Co. takeover, a shareholder said.

Finger Interests Number One Ltd., owner of more than 1 million Bank of America shares, said internal candidates to succeed Kenneth D. Lewis as chief executive officer are too close to investigations of the Merrill purchase, according to a federal filing yesterday. Shareholders should look outside the company for a new CEO, the investor said.