Investing while in I-Banking

i know there's rules against insider trading, but I think that only relates to those in the stock market biz.

You can't trade on companies that your bank is advising or working with. Banks take this seriously and usually publish a daily restricted list.

just invest in ETFs or don't invest at all.

If you are working with a US bank I would jsut focus on investing in a diversified portfolio of various international and US etfs. If you think you have time to day trade as a banker, tell me where you work because I want a job there, and so does the rest of the forum.

Another point:

You cannot use any other "foreign" brokerage accounts to trade (ie. anything outside the firm you work at). So say you had a Schwab account, you would have to sell your positions before working.

Don't know if this is uniform across the industry but I know this is true for MS. As you might imagine the brokerage fees there are expensive so it's not worth trading at all.

insider trading is illegal, whether you trade domestically or internationally, period. the same no matter where you work. look at those sec prosecutions on insider trading lately so you know they are serious about this stuff. best bet is put it in fund and let someone else take care of it, cos when you work in banking, u won't have time to sleep, let alone invest.

would they really catch you if you kept your outside brokerage account?

you have a 30 day holding period on all securities, you cannot trade any companies you directly work with or are in your sector (if you are in a telecom group you cant trade any telecom stocks)

you are better off investing in mutual funds/etfs as they dont carry any restrictions

My firm has a minimum thirty day holding period. Compliance and my manager must approve all trades. Furthermore, I must use the bank's own brokerage service or Etrade.