NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Ken Lewis, the beleaguered CEO of Bank of America, announced Wednesday that he will retire at year’s end. There was no successor named.

Lewis, who was stripped of his chairman title in April, will also step down from the board.

“Bank of America is well positioned to meet the continuing challenges of the economy and markets,” said Lewis, 62. “I am particularly heartened by the results that are emerging from the decisions and initiatives of the difficult past year-and-a-half. The Merrill Lynch and Countrywide integrations are on track and returning value already.”

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank has had a tumultuous time during the mortgage meltdown.

In January 2008, it acquired Countrywide Financial, the poster child for the subprime lending crisis.

Then in September, amid the global financial frenzy, Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) stepped in to rescue Merrill Lynch in an acquisition that has since caused it many headaches. The Securities and Exchange Commission, after a judge threw out a $33 million settlement, is ramping up its pursuit of the bank for allegedly misleading investors about bonuses paid to Merrill employees.

Meanwhile, Congress is probing the merger, and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is moving to bring charges against the bank and possibly its executives over the deal.

“Ken Lewis’ decision to step down will have no impact on our continuing investigation,” said Cuomo’s office in a statement.

Lewis, who has served as chief executive since 2001, joined a predecessor to Bank of America in 1969 as a credit analyst. He is the only two-time winner of American Banker’s “Banker of the Year” award, the most recent accolade coming in 2008. A year earlier, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

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