A
rule passed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association
of Securities Dealers (NASD) to handle some of the conflicts of interest
between research analysts and investment banking. As a result of Rule 27‑11,
research reports must say whether the analyst or any member of his or her
family owns the stock being discussed, and whether the analyst’s firm has or
intends to obtain an investment banking relationship with the company.
Also, according to
Rule 27‑11, banks must divide all their research recommendations into
three categories (buy, neutral, and sell), and disclose what percentage of
companies fall into each category. The percentage of companies in each category
also must be broken out for investment banking clients. In addition, research
analysts are prohibited from letting a research report be previewed by
investment bankers or by the company.