Broker-dealers are required to have in place Chinese walls (also called "information barriers") that prevent the transmission of insider information from one department to another.
Regulators are focusing on a lack of so-called Chinese walls between traders and employees making interest-rate submissions on behalf of their banks, the people said.
Rather than "managing" conflict by muzzling staff or inserting paper-thin Chinese walls, firms with retail and investment banking arms should split in two.