Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC) chief executive Ken Lewis, slated to leave the bank at the end of the year, could actually stay on as CEO, Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove said Friday.

No successor has yet been named for Lewis, who has been under fire from regulators and lawmakers since the company's takeover of Merrill, and several high profile candidates have publicly rejected the job, leading Bove to believe Lewis could succeed ... himself.

"In sum, Mr. Lewis was a key architect in the creation and management of Bank of America. He knows this company better than anyone else and he knows how to operate it," Bove wrote in a research note issued early Friday morning. "At this point in the company's history, this is the type of leader needed. Convincing him to return would be the biggest morale builder that management could get."

The report does not suggest that Bove has any inside knowledge of the board's thinking, only that Lewis is a popular and qualified candidate and has been successful in the role so far.