Chinese wall (redirected from Chinese walls)

Chinese Wall

The ethical (not physical) barrier between different divisions of a financial (or other) institution to avoid conflict of interest. A Chinese Wall is said to exist, for example, between the corporate-advisory area and the brokering department to separate those giving corporate advice on takeovers from those advising clients about buying shares. The "wall" is thrown up to prevent leaks of corporate inside information, which could influence the advice given to clients making investments, and allow staff to take advantage of facts that are not yet known to the general public.

Notes:

Maintaining client confidentiality is crucial to any firm, but particularly large multi-service businesses. Where firms are providing a wide range of services, clients must be able to trust that information about themselves will not be exploited for the benefit of other clients with different interests. And that means clients must be able to trust in Chinese Walls. Some Wall Street scandals in recent years, however, have made some people doubt the effectiveness of Chinese Walls, as well placed executives of respectable firms have traded illegally on inside information for their own benefit.

See also: Broker, Firewall, Front Running, Glass-Steagall Act, Insider Information, Insider Trading, Investment Banker

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Chinese wall

Communication barrier between financiers at a firm (investment bankers) and traders. This barrier is erected to prevent the sharing of inside information that bankers are likely to have.

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Chinese wall

An imaginary separation placed between a brokerage firm's investment banking business and its trading and retail business. A Chinese wall prevents investment bankers who frequently are privy to information that could substantially influence the price of a client's securities from leaking that information to the firm's traders and sales personnel. The exchange of such information is legally prohibited.