Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC) chief executive Ken Lewis, slated to leave the bank at the end of the year, could actually stay on as CEO, Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove said Friday.

No successor has yet been named for Lewis, who has been under fire from regulators and lawmakers since the company’s takeover of Merrill, and several high profile candidates have publicly rejected the job, leading Bove to believe Lewis could succeed ... himself.

“In sum, Mr. Lewis was a key architect in the creation and management of Bank of America. He knows this company better than anyone else and he knows how to operate it,” Bove wrote in a research note issued early Friday morning. “At this point in the company’s history, this is the type of leader needed. Convincing him to return would be the biggest morale builder that management could get.”

The report does not suggest that Bove has any inside knowledge of the board’s thinking, only that Lewis is a popular and qualified candidate and has been successful in the role so far.

Bove has been a cheerleader for Lewis, arguing that the controversial merger with brokerage giant Merrill and the bank’s takeover of Countrywide have been beneficial to shareholders and that Lewis was “hounded out of his position on the wrong issue.”

In calling for Lewis’ return, Bove argues that both management and employees - 86% of whom said in a soon-to-be- published poll that they are happy with the company – support him and only the board of directors and “politicians and bureaucrats who have amply demonstrated their lack of knowledge of the company and the banking business” stand in his way.

Bove accused the government and “its minions on the board” of wanting to break up the banking giant in much the same way Citigroup (C) was split, while shareholder and management representatives want to keep the bank intact.

Tony Plath, a business professor at the University of North Carolina who follows the bank closely said Lewis would be perfect to fill the role of interim CEO.

"I think it's a bang up idea," Plath said.  "The board is in a really tough position here because any external candidate qualified for the job doesn't want it. They are really struggling to find a candidate that is acceptable to all of the factions they have there."

The worst thing the board could do, Plath said, is put in an interim chief other than Lewis.

"My fear is if they go to any other interim the government will find a way to break that company up."

But several regulatory and legal issues surrounding the Merrill deal could stand in the way of Lewis’ return. The company and its embattled CEO face investigations from several attorneys general, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal law enforcement officials as well as a host of shareholder lawsuits.  All of the legal issues revolve around the Merrill acquisition and suspicions Lewis and other executives withheld knowledge of Merrill’s mounting losses from its shareholders prior to the deal.

Lawmakers also have accused Lewis and other company brass of overstating the bank’s intent to pull out of the deal in an attempt to wheedle bailout money from the government.

Also potentially standing in Lewis' way are shareholders who want a fresh start.  Many would like to see the bank hire an outside candidate, one without ties to the current management team.  

Jonathan Finger, whose family trust owns 1.1 million shares of Bank of America stock, is one such shareholder.  Finger has pushed for several outside candidates and said he continues to believe that is the way the board should go.  Finger said Al deMolina, who was ousted earlier this week as chief of GMAC, or Jim Hance, Bank of America's former chief financial officer are strong candidates.

"We don’t think that’s a credible statement and we don’t think it's in the best interest of shareholders," Finger said. "It ignores a number of facts.  Number one, the company continues to be under investigation by at least four government agencies so Ken Lewis is going to be tied up giving depositions in all oft those cases. Number two, he is part of the management team that is responsible for destroying a substantial amount of shareholder value."

Shares of BofA are flat at $16.06 Friday morning.