Bank of America will keep Merrill Lynch's 49.5 percent stake in BlackRock, but the bank will have less voting rights than Merrill had, The Wall Street Journal reported. This means more voting power for PNC, which owns 33 percent of BlackRock.

The change took place as a result of an agreement made in 2006 that gives BlackRock the right to lower Merrill Lynch's voting stake in the event of a change of control.

Merrill Lynch's voting rights were reduced from about 45 percent to 4.9 percent through an exchange of common and preferred stock. PNC, on the other hand, saw its voting rights increase from 36.5 percent to 47 percent.  

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