Chinese wall
A Chinese wall is an ethical barrier that is erected within an organisation to avoid conflicts of interest. It is required where information held by one part of an organisation needs to be withheld from another division of the organisation.
It is particularly common in financial institutions where one division may be offering corporate advice about issues that could impact on share prices, such as mergers or acquisitions, whilst another division may be advising about share dealing. A Chinese wall is intended to help prevent information leaking between the two divisions.
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