The eleven investment banks that own equity research portal TheMarkets.com are involved in the new MeritMark service - including Banc of America Securities, Bear Stearns, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. UBS has joined the group to develop the broker research evaluation service.

The MeritMark service has been created to collect buy-side feedback on broker research, personnel and services in a standardised format. The new service includes a streamlined system to collect, analyse and report broker evaluations. MeritMark also delivers evaluation information collected by buy-side firms using alternative systems.

"MeritMark presents a solution to the shared interests of the buy and sell sides in improving broker evaluation," says Amy Kadomatsu, SVP of TheMarkets.com. "MeritMark offers buy-side firms a simple, straightforward way to communicate with their brokers about what they value - ultimately resulting in research service and coverage better aligned with their needs."

Thomas Bianco, MD at Merrill Lynch, says: "MeritMark is a first step in our initiative to improve the broker evaluation process and expand participation in it...MeritMark represents a mutually beneficial solution to our goals and those of our clients."