I'm not sure there's a front runner in the race to succeed Ken Lewis as CEO of Bank of America (BAC), who will stay until the end of the year. The board of course needs to jump on this now.

The internal candidates would appear to be Brian Moynihan, head of the bank's consumer and small business banking unit. Tom Montag, a former Merrill executive, runs corporate and investment banking but has little consumer experience. Sallie Krawcheck will likely be mentioned by a few. As will Barbara Desoer, a proven commodity who's now cleaning up much of the mortgage mess.

The board may want to go outside; you certainly can't blame it. There, the pickings may be slim. Anyone care to offer a few guesses. It certainly can't be anyone tainted by the financial crisis. That limits the field. 

For more:
- here's an AP article
- here's the views of one director via CNBC
- here's some background from Reuters
- Ken Lewis's letter

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