On Fri, Aug 16, 2002 at 06:28:06PM -0400, Nomiprins at aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 8/16/02 5:49:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com writes:
>
>
> > > So maybe the use of the name Chinese Wall to describe
> > > something that sounds impermeable but wasn't was yet
> > > another instance of unconscious truth-telling.
> >
> > I don't think that term was ever meant to mean impermeable: it was (and
> > is) a symbolic gesture of investment banks resolve to attempt to keep
> > the various sides of the house separate.
>
> Absolutely. And with it, an internal terminology developed:
> The practice of 'wall-crossing' continues to be prevalent. So, employees who
> are technically on the 'public' side of the wall, dealing with end investors,
> i.e. traders, salespeople and research people have but to make a call to a
> compliance officer and get sign-off from a managing director to get 'crossed'
> to the 'private' side of the wall, i.e. the investment banking side, so they
> can work on a merger, acquisition, or otherwise complex transaction. This
> practice takes about 30 seconds. Research people, in particular, are
> 'crossed' all the time. Some managing directors sit 'on top of' the wall.
> They have to 'erect' a Chinese Wall in their heads.
>
> Nomi
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu