Three years ago when I was in Beijing, I had the chance to see the Great Wall of China. In Charlotte yesterday, I saw another “Chinese Wall” of sorts when we visited the two banks headquartered there.
The morning visit to the trading room was incredible. The room looked almost exactly like the room from the movie Wall Street, with traders sitting at rows of desks, each desk equipped with multiple flat panel screens, an extremely sophisticated looking telephone, and a squawk box. The vice president that gave us the tour (Kenan-Flagler graduate) explained that each trader is able to call clients and talk to other colleagues on the trading floor (and in New York City’s trading floor) at the touch of one button. During the tour, he showed us the spot where the firm’s analysts conduct television interviews, a spot with the trading floor and the firm’s logo in the background .
The afternoon featured an almost identical presentation and tour. The only difference was that the second firm’s trading floor features a giant, two story tall window overlooking Charlotte and I-277. The director who gave us the tour works for the syndicate, a division within the bank responsible for maintaining compliance with the Glass-Stegall Act. As we walked out the trading room and across the elevator lobby into the area staffed by other bankers, he commented that we had just crossed the “Chinese Wall” that separates the bank’s public and private sides.
This blog will originate from New York City (some time) next week as our investment banking career trek continues.
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