The race to replace Bank of America Corp.'s chief executive Ken Lewis is on. The recent management moves announced by the bank has positioned several members of the new executive team for the job.

Thomas Montag, a Wall Street veteran from Merrill Lynch & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., runs global markets for BofA and recently added head of global corporate and investment banking to his titles.

However his Wall Street ties could hurt his odds in Charlotte especially in light of the fact that Montag was one of the seven bankers at Merrill Lynch & Co. that collected a big bonus from BofA's acquisition of the bank.

Merrill Lynch originally wooed Montag in January 2008 after he resigned as Goldman Sachs's global co-head of securities. Prior to his position in the U.S., Montag was co-president of Goldman's Japanese operations and co-head of Asian FICC and Equities and also ran the firm's global derivatives business.

Montag regularly contributes to political campaigns.