A spokesperson for the bank's London operation declined to comment.

Bank of America was tight-lipped when probed by this publication about media reports it planned to charge asset managers up to $80,000 a user per year for full research services once a new European directive is imposed next year.

The premium package includes speaking directly to analysts, attending conferences and meeting senior executive of major companies and policy makers, Bloomberg reports, citing a pricing document seen by the news service. Fees of up to $80,000 would be levied when MiFID II, a directive requiring money managers to “unbundle” the trading commissions they pay from investment research fees, enters into force in January 2018. 

A spokesperson for the bank’s London operation declined to comment. 

One of the bank’s competitors, Barclays, has quoted some small-and medium-sized clients $450,000 for frim-wide access to its premium offer for equity research. 

Meanwhile, Wall Street rival JP Morgan is reportedly planning to charge as little as $10,000 a year for equity research – the lowest price to emerge so far. Its asset management unit has confirmed it will absorb the cost of research rather than pass it onto its clients.