In an effort to bring its primary and secondary businesses closer together, ABN Amro last week gave Frank McKirgan, global head of equity cash trading, the additional job of heading equity-linked origination at its joint venture with Rothschild.

The problem with this idea, however, is that McKirgan now straddles the Chinese Wall between the two businesses, which was erected to prevent traders in the cash market making use of information about forthcoming equity-linked transactions. Apparently, the Financial Services Authority is happy as long as ABN is "managing its conflicts of interest". McKirgan can head equity-linked and price large share blocks, as long as he does not leak the information to cash traders, and he stays on the equity-linked side of the wall. On the cash side, he will focus on the division's strategy.