Bank of America Corp. announced Friday afternoon the election of four new directors aiming to address Regulators’ concerns that that board lacks financial expertise.

The move will add will two ex-regulators and two former bankers as directors is expected to improve governance and will increases pressure on Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis, who was stripped of his role as chairman in April after a surge in credit losses and the takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co.

Three directors have left the board in recent months, including two since the conclusion of the bank’s government stress test of its financial condition, and more are expected to depart in the coming weeks.

The new directors are Susan Bies, 62, a former Federal Reserve Board governor; Donald Powell, 67, an ex-Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman; William Boardman, 67, a retired executive of Bank One Corp. and Visa International Inc.; and D. Paul Jones, 66 who was CEO of Compass Bancshares Inc., according to a statement today.

The Charlotte based bank chairman, Walter Massey, has led a committee of outside directors looking for new board members.

The move “will make our board even stronger as we move our company toward achieving its true potential”, Massey said in a statement.

Bank of america