Bank of New York Mellon’s chief executive Robert Kelly has been approached for the CEO job at Bank of America, currently held by Kenneth Lewis, who is due to step down from the job, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Kelly has been approached more than once about being a potential successor to Mr Lewis, the publication said, citing unnamed sources. BoA and BNY Mellon did not comment, the WSJ said.

Some Bank of America stakeholders and regulators are pushing the board's search committee to look outside the company for the next CEO, but potential candidates have fallen short of the board's hopes or were not interested, the paper said.

Mr Lewis’s tenure at BoA coincided with its controversial takeover of Merrill Lynch last year and completed in January this year. Mr Lewis has faced criticism from regulators and investors for not disclosing losses and bonuses at Merrill Lynch before shareholders voted to approve the acquisition in December 2008. BoA’s takeover of Merrill has created the world’s largest wealth management firm by size of assets.