Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch business will stop using proxy advisers from 2027, joining other major US banks that are taking direct control of shareholder voting, Reuters reported.
Proxy advisory firms assess shareholder resolutions and corporate governance issues before annual shareholder meetings.
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They then issue voting recommendations to institutional investors.
Conservatives and some business leaders have criticised these firms and large asset managers, arguing that their recommendations can oppose board decisions or directors and give excessive weight to climate and social issues.
Merrill’s revised proxy voting framework will remove the option for clients to delegate voting authority to Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) from January.
The unit will take over voting authority for clients that had assigned it to ISS, unless they opt out of the change by 15 December.
The move comes amid closer scrutiny of the proxy advisory sector.
In 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to increase oversight of the industry, saying leading firms often “advance and prioritise radical politically-motivated agendas.”
Other US banks have made similar changes.
Earlier this year, Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management (WIM) introduced an internal proxy voting service for client accounts where it has both investment discretion and proxy voting authority.
WIM will decide votes for those assets using its own policy and instructions. The bank said the structure is intended to make its voting activity more independent and focus on clients’ economic interests.
In January, JPMorgan Chase’s asset-management arm also ended its relationship with proxy advisory firms, moving shareholder voting oversight in-house using AI technology, as per a report from The Wall Street Journal.
