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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the US regulator, has postponed a vote to impose stricter oversight on asset managers such as BlackRock and Vanguard that have big passive stakes in banks, Reuters has reported. 

The organization has shelved votes on two competing plans that would have given the agency more power to scrutinize asset managers after it was clear that neither had the majority backing of the five-member board, the report said. 

Officials said they planned to refine the proposals.

"If these fund complexes are using their purportedly passive investment funds to push social policy to influence bank policy, there's a real significant issue here," FDIC board member Jonathan McKernan was quoted saying at the agency's public board meeting on Thursday late last week. 

The rise of index and other forms of “passive” investing has fueled concerns about the influence large asset managers have over the banking industry.

One concern, the report noted, is that passive investors’ market power might curb competition.