Goldman says that 10% of its revenues come from proprietary trading, well above rivals' shares.
Instead it uses data obtained from proprietary databases, or through media searches and reviews.
Chinese regulators banned the broker from proprietary trading for three months as a result.
The United States has the so-called Volcker Rule, which bans banks from proprietary trading.
But other firms that have recently switched from proprietary gear say they have significantly reduced their IT bill.
Before the credit crisis, the big institutions earned most of their profits from proprietary trading, and those profits led to giant bonuses.
In fact, prohibiting banks from proprietary trading could "give you false confidence that they are not taking risks when they are".
When Wall Street started making big returns on everything from proprietary trading to new and creative ways of reselling the home mortgages, Merrill charged in headfirst.
The US "Volcker rule" would ban banks from proprietary trading, so it's also virtually a reversion to the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act.
But at present, regulators are in a bit of a fix over how to distinguish risk-trading done on behalf of clients from proprietary trading.
So long as uncertainty surrounds the implications of the Basel reforms and proposals to stop universal banks from proprietary trading, caution is justified.
