Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) 's shareholders Wednesday removed Kenneth Lewis from the chairman's post but he will remain the chief executive, the US banking giant said.

The decision to oust Lewis, who had angered shareholders by acquiring Merrill Lynch without informing them of the investment bank's massive losses, was taken at the company's 2009 annual meeting.

Shareholders narrowly approved a proposal to change the company's by-laws to require an "independent chairman," the bank said in a statement late Wednesday.

The board of directors then elected Walter Massey chairman and Lewis "will be president and chief executive officer," the bank said.

"The board unanimously expressed its support for Lewis to continue in that role," said Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) , one of the world's largest banks.

Lewis, who had campaigned aggressively to keep his posts as chairman and CEO, was reelected along with 17 other directors to the board of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank.

Massey, 71, is president emeritus at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

He has served on the bank's board since 1998 and also currently serves as a director of McDonald's Corporation.

Massey is a former director of Delta Airlines, Motorola and BP PLC.