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This concept was named after the Great Wall because it was thought to be impenetrable. The Chinese Wall refers to the divisions between the financial guys at a company and other departments at that same company. The idea is that the sides are divided up so that information can't leak through enough to allow insider trading.

In reality, the Chinese Wall is more like Swiss cheese: insider trading and information sharing between departments and companies happens all the time (even when it shouldn't).

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)