Bank of America promoted Brian Moynihan to president and chief executive, ending an 11-week search with a unanimous boardroom vote in favour of a longtime insider.

The 50-year-old Moynihan now runs the Charlotte, N.C., bank's sprawling consumer and small-business operations, including about 6,000 retail branches in the US. An Ohio-born lawyer, he is one of the few high-ranking holdovers from the 2004 acquisition of FleetBoston Financial.