Outgoing Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) CEO, Kenneth Lewis, has made it very clear who he would like to see succeed him in the position, but Bank of America’s board of directors choice to follow Lewis’ suggestions may determine if the megabank is ready to turn a new corner.

Kenneth Lewis presented three options to the board’s search committee on October 5th. The first option was to install Gregory Curl (61) as an interim CEO and give younger candidates more time to mature. Curl is currently Bank of America’s chief risk officer and was a key player in Bank of America’s aggressive takeovers including Merrill Lynch & Co. Supporters suggest that he is well respected on both Wall Street and in DC, but some investors question whether or not the massive buyouts have added too much risk to the company and sucked up much needed capital.

The argument that Lewis had made to the board was that Curl would give more time to assess three younger candidates that Lewis had suggested as alternatives that would remain in the post for longer terms, including Thomas Montag, Brian Moynihan and Barba Desoer.

Lewis’ second opinion was install current head of investment banking, Brian Moynihan, who had joined the company when Bank of America purchased FleetBoston Financial Corp. in 2004. Moynihan has some powerful supporters and has held a number of position inside the bank, but some suggest that he may lack necessary communication skills to excite Bank of America’s base of 280,000 employees. Others suggest that Moynihan has been too close to the company’s legal woes related to the purchase of Merill Lynch.

Lewis said that the downside to selecting Moynihan as the bank’s next CEO would likely cause Curl and Montag to seek positions outside the company.

Lewis’ third option was to name an external hire as the bank’s next executive. Lewis warned that going outside the bank may lead to an “exodus of top executives.” Initially, there was some murmurs that the bank would choose one of Lewis’ internal suggestions as a way of providing stability within the bank, but Bank of America’s board has also began to look for a leader who has no connection to any of the bank’s current problems.

Unfortunately, several of the candidates the board was hoping to bring in weren’t interested. The Bank of America board pursued Barclays President Bob Diamond and at Robert Kelly, CEO of The Bank of New York Mellon Corp, but neither has expressed interest.

Currently Bank of America’s board is still considering Curl, Moynihan and at least two other outsiders. Most analysts predict that Bank of America will make a final decision by Thanksgiving.