SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, NEW YORK April 24 (Reuters) -

Goldman Sachs ( GS ) and Bank of America ( BAC )

shareholders voted against proposals to divide the CEO and

chairman roles at both banks on Wednesday, bucking pressure from

influential proxy advisers to bolster corporate governance.

Proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)

and Glass Lewis had urged shareholders to support the moves and

strip Goldman CEO David Solomon and BofA CEO Brian Moynihan of

their chairman roles.

Norway's $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of the

world's largest investors, had also indicated support for the

plan.

At Goldman's annual shareholder meeting, the proposal by

the conservative-leaning National Legal and Policy Center (NPLC)

garnered 33% of shareholder votes, according to a preliminary

tally, compared with 16% last year.

Solomon's "poor decision making" led to substantial losses

in its retail division, Luke Perlot, associate director of the

NLPC's corporate integrity project, told investors as he

presented the proposal.

After the vote failed, Perlot said the CEO's misjudgments

"may have been avoided had there been a serious counterweight to

his power."

He added: "we are pleased that voting in support doubled

from last year, we are disappointed that these clear examples of

excesses did not convince a majority to support our proposal."

A Goldman Sachs ( GS ) spokesperson referred to the company's

earlier comments on the matter. Its governance committee has

maintained that it considers a strong lead independent director,

alongside the chairman-CEO role, as most effective at this time.

"We took decisive action to narrow our strategic focus

and play to our core strengths," Solomon told the meeting in his

opening remarks. "We are delivering on this strategy and putting

the firm in a stronger position."

A similar move at Bank of America ( BAC ) to separate the CEO and

chairman roles also failed after receiving 31% of shareholder

votes, compared with 26% last year.

At both banks, investors approved all management proposals,

including those on executive compensation, while rejecting all

shareholder proposals.