Merrill Lynch has become the latest bank to provide its buyside clients with greater access to third-party research on equity investments, following rivals Goldman Sachs and UBS in forming a partnership with a group of independent research providers.

The US bank has launched Merrill Open Minds, a service that gives its clients access to research conducted by seven independent providers on the companies and sectors in which they invest. This includes research on extra-financial information, corporate integrity risk, federal policy, healthcare, media, energy and consumer surveys.