Brought Over The Wall

"Brought over the wall" is an employment tactic of sorts specific to investment banks.

The underwriting department pulls an employee from the reseach department. The hope is that the research employee will be able to offer special knowledge to the underwriters, and perhaps predict trends.

The employee that is "brought over the wall" is sworn to secrecy (via a confidentiality agreement). This is a way to let a bank provide both investment services and reseach services. Regulations on this practice tightened up after the dotcom boom (followed by the bust) of the 90s. It was discovered that some analysts were trading their personally held stocks in line with what they were promoting to maximixe their profits, as well as giving inside tips to their favorites.