, ▁taking ▁both ▁sides ▁in ▁transactions , ▁and ▁more . ▁In vest ment ▁bank ing ▁has ▁also ▁been ▁critic ised ▁for ▁its ▁opacity . ▁ ▁Conf lic ts ▁of ▁interest ▁Conf lic ts ▁of ▁interest ▁may ▁arise ▁between ▁different ▁parts ▁of ▁a ▁bank , ▁creating ▁the ▁potential ▁for ▁market ▁manip ulation , ▁according ▁to ▁critics . ▁Author ities ▁that ▁reg ulate ▁invest ment ▁bank ing , ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Fin an cial ▁Con duct ▁Author ity ▁( F CA ) ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁Kingdom ▁and ▁the ▁SE C ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁require ▁that ▁banks ▁imp ose ▁a ▁" Ch inese ▁wall " ▁to ▁prevent ▁communication ▁between ▁invest ment ▁bank ing ▁on ▁one ▁side ▁and ▁equ ity ▁research ▁and ▁trad ing ▁on ▁the ▁other . ▁However , ▁critics ▁say ▁such ▁a ▁bar rier ▁does ▁not ▁always ▁exist ▁in ▁practice . ▁Independent ▁advis ory ▁fir ms ▁that ▁exclus ively ▁provide ▁corpor ate ▁fin ance ▁advice ▁argue ▁that ▁their ▁advice ▁is ▁not ▁conflic ted , ▁unlike ▁bul ge ▁bra cket ▁banks . ▁ ▁Conf lic ts ▁of ▁interest ▁often ▁arise ▁in ▁relation ▁to ▁invest ment ▁banks ' ▁equ ity ▁research ▁units , ▁which ▁have ▁long ▁been ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁industry . ▁A ▁common ▁practice ▁is ▁for ▁equ ity ▁anal yst s ▁to ▁initi ate ▁coverage ▁of ▁a ▁company ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁develop ▁relationships ▁that ▁lead ▁to ▁highly ▁prof itable ▁invest ment ▁bank ing ▁business . ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁many ▁equ ity ▁research ers ▁alleg edly ▁trad ed ▁positive