Bank of America Corp's board is set to meet next Tuesday and is expected to discuss the appointment of a new chief executive, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

BofA was not immediately reachable for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

On Wednesday, the retail bank announced a plan to repay $45 billion of taxpayer bailout funds. The repayment was seen as a move that could free BofA from pay curbs and make the search for the CEO easier.

Outgoing Chief Executive Ken Lewis announced his resignation in September, effective at the end of this month without a clear successor in place.

The specter of government oversight has played a large role in the ongoing CEO search, with possible candidates wary of the role the government would play in everything from operations to executive pay.

(Reporting by Deepti Govind in Bangalore; editing by Simon Jessop)

Bank of america