One of the country’s most influential governance advisory firms will urge its institutional investor clients to vote against members of board audit committees if they are former partners of the company’s auditor, a move that could see large votes against a number of prominent directors.

Institutional Shareholder Services also recommends voting against directors who receive ongoing payments from their former firms, a policy that appears aimed squarely at former PwC partners who continue to receive payments long after they retire from the partnership. PwC has already introduced rules to address independence concerns.