# Chinese Wall

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/chinese-wall
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

An information barrier within an organization, designed to ensure internal confidentiality; frequently used to prevent conflicts of interest.

## Examples

- The bank uses a Chinese Wall to keep client data private.
- The law firm established a Chinese Wall between the two teams to prevent a conflict of interest during the merger.
- The consulting agency built a Chinese Wall to stop consultants working for competing airlines from sharing sensitive marketing strategies with each other.
- To maintain regulatory compliance, the investment bank implemented a strict Chinese Wall, ensuring that the research department remained entirely isolated from the trading division.

## Origin

The expression Chinese Wall comes from the Great Wall of China and became a metaphor of barriers, known to go back to the United States stock market crash of 1929. The U.S. government saw the need to maintain separation (or an information barrier) between investment bankers and brokerage firms, to limit the conflict of interest between the two. The first use of Chinese Wall in the general context of keeping confidentiality is unclear. (disputed)

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.