Tear down that wall

Lawyers and bankers are trying to sort out the new IPO process - including the revival of sellside analyst participation - in the wake of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act. But they aren't likely to make much headway until the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have completed their rulemaking processes.

The JOBS Act marks the first break in the wall between banking and research since Eliot Spitzer went after the investment banking industry in the early 2000s. The changes come almost a decade after the settlement between regulators and major Wall Street firms effectively removed sellside analysts from the public offering process...