Can research reinvent itself?

The provision of credit research to clients is undergoing sweeping reform, as regulatory concerns grow over potential conflicts of interest and banks reassess the value of giving out freebies. Philip Moore examines what this all adds up to for investors

Nearly one year after UK regulatory body the Financial Services Authority's guidelines on conflicts of interest in investment research came into effect, banks' responses to Consultation Paper 205 (CP205) have been anything but uniform. Indeed, many have yet to formulate any clear response, which perhaps explains why a number of banks ran for cover at the first mention of an interview with Credit on the subject of regulation in general and CP205 in particular.

"We've decided to make no changes to