A Bank of America Corp board member wanted an outsider to take over as chief executive in December but eventually gave in to backing Brian Moynihan for the post, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

William Boardman, a former Banc One Corp vice chairman, was in favor of hiring someone from outside the bank to satisfy critics, the paper reported, citing unnamed sources.

But Boardman finally went with other directors in choosing Moynihan, who was the top choice of the board's search committee, as he was concerned voting against him would hurt confidence in the bank, the paper reported.

Moynihan was also backed by Kenneth Lewis, CEO until the end of December, although Lewis earlier had felt Moynihan was not ready for the job, the Journal said.

Bank of America was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Paritosh Bansal; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Bank of america