The Bank of America (BAC) board of directors elected Brian Moynihan as CEO and president of the company. He will assume the office following the retirement of Kenneth Lewis on Dec. 31, 2009. Currently the president of consumer and small business banking at the company, Moynihan joined FleetBoston Financial, a BofA predecessor, in 1993. Outgoing CEO Lewis previously announced he will retire at the end of the year. Moynihan said in a statement that BofA must remain flexible to meet consumers’ needs in a changing financial environment. “Before the crisis, we were the most efficient banking company with our business mix in the country, and we will see that as a target going forward,” Moynihan said in a statement. “I believe we have the scale, capital, liquidity and diversity of income that all support safety and soundness.” He added: “What we need to do now is very simple. We need to execute.” BofA on Wednesday defended its efforts to convert trial Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications into permanency. Jack Schakett, the credit loss mitigation strategies executive at BofA, said trial HAMP borrowers so far have not shown a “sense of urgency” to submit necessary documentation for conversion to permanent status — an issue he said will be a focus of BofA’s loss mitigation team going forward. Write to Diana Golobay. The author holds no relevant investments.