If Wall Street is anything, it's resourceful. It will not easily give up on a proven money-making idea. It's a given that hedge funds and other buy-side players remain hungry for insights into companies. The question is how this thirst will be slaked.

After Reg FD passed in 2000, the expert network industry sprung up as a way to transfer company specific knowledge to investors. Judging from the insider trading probes to date, we can conclude that some of these firms crossed the line and provided material inside information to investors. The result has been a chilling effect.

"Now, Wall Street is distancing itself from the industry," reports the New York Times. "The hedge funds Balyasny Asset Management, Millenium Partners and Och-Ziff Capital Management have suspended their use of such consultants."

Certainly, more buy-side firms will pay more attention to compliance matters in this regard and perhaps the flow of really useful information will be reduced.

Which begs a question: what's next? What will the industry move on to in terms of an information conduit?

That remains unclear. But perhaps some analysts and managers will trend back to old-fashioned meetings with company executives, avoiding the new hassles of the expert networking route all together. Despite Reg FD, this seems to pay off in terms of information. A recent survey found that almost half of respondents said that wittingly or unwittingly, inside information is disclosed during such meetings. If you form a solid relationship, winks and nods can reveal much.

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