Citi has confirmed that it is indeed moving its stock research unit out of Smith Barney, where it was placed following the stock research scandals of yesteryear, and back into institutional clients' business. It will become part of a new research unit that will combine fixed income and economic and equities research, and lead to some cost savings. Breakingviews argues this is a good move. The Chinese Walls that the settlement with Eliot Spitzer brought forth will still be in place, and the analysts will not be reporting to banking heads. They'll report instead to chief operating officer Hamid Biglari. It will be interesting to see what kind of research emerges from this move. The bank may try to offer a blend of analysis that treats stocks, debt and other securities as a whole, along the lines of the savvy work at Creditsights. We'll see.

For more:
- here's the Breakingviews article

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