US regulators to split research and banking | FT

You know, I understand the logic behind the separation of research and investment banking. I also understand the feasibility of doing this. However, what is this "separation of IPO allocation and investment banking"? Spinning off the Equity Capital Market division??? There have to be lots of communication between the ECM and the investment banking and I simply think this one has gone too far.....

"Wall Street watchdogs are set to force the separation of research and investment banking as part of a global settlement of their investigations into conflicts of interest.

The regulators on Thursday unveiled a common front on settlement talks that aides said reflected their agreement on the need for radical reform of Wall Street securities firms to restore investor confidence." - more

What did I say then?

Lex: Gardening leave | FT

Lex: Gardening leave - How to get paid to do nothing is a central question of the human condition. It has taken the ingenuity of the world's leading investment bankers to produce an answer: gardening leave. [Financial Times - Financial Services]

.....Compared to traditional retention techniques.....gardening leave may be cheap. The individual does get a salary in spite of being inactive, but......Isolation disrupts their client relationships while the new employer wastes time.