NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Bank of America (BoA) chief executive Brian Moynihan's pay increased 73 per cent last year from the previous year to US$12.1 million (S$15 million), as the bank gave him a bigger package of stock awards.

The second-largest US bank gave Mr Moynihan a raise when other CEOs on Wall Street received a pay cut, after Bank of America's stock soared last year and it made progress in resolving lawsuits from the financial crisis.

Mr Moynihan received 926,238 shares of stock in three types of grants, including restricted shares and performance-based shares, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

He earned a US$950,000 salary last year, but received no cash bonus, similar to 2011, a person familiar with the situation said. The CEO's salary this year will increase to US$1.5 million, the person said. The stock grants for last year were worth US$11.1 million at the closing price of US$12.03 on Friday, the date they were awarded. Mr Moynihan received grants worth about US$6.1 million for 2011.

BoA's shares rose 109 per cent last year, the best performance among stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as investors grew confident it had the capital it needed to meet new international guidelines.

Mr Moynihan, however, is still wrestling with losses from the bank's 2008 Countrywide Financial acquisition and is under pressure to show the bank can increase earnings at a time of low interest rates and tighter regulations.

His pay rose in a year in which other bank executives were not so fortunate. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman's total pay last year fell 7 per cent to US$9.75 million, while JPMorgan Chase & Co awarded CEO Jamie Dimon US$11.5 million after slashing his bonus in half after the bank lost billions on disastrous trades by its Chief Investment Office.