Bank of America Corp has appointed a six-member group of directors to oversee the search for Kenneth Lewis' replacement.

The group, known as the transition committee, will be mainly comprised of older Bank of America directors who survived the turnover of the last year, with only two new directors represented in the group.

The two new directors on the committee include Donald Powell, former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp chairman, and DuPont Chairman Charles Holliday, who joined the board on September 21.

The senior board members on the committee include chairman Walter Massey, a retired college administrator, along with Charles Gifford, Thomas May and Thomas Ryan.

Company spokesman Bob Stickler said the committee recognizes the need for speed in the process, but also wants to find the right replacement.

Lewis, the embattled Bank of America CEO, announced on Wednesday that he will retire at the end of the year.

The CEO transition committee has not retained a search firm at this time, and has no authorization to do so, but Stickler said that could change as the process unfolds.

Several directors have left the board over the last year. Throughout 2009, the bank has been adding new directors with experience in the financial sector.

(Reporting by Joe Rauch, editing by Matthew Lewis)

Bank of america DuPont