Thomson Reuters Stock research firms are getting battered so far in 2018, with revenues declining substantially. Part of the blame is new European regulatory reform, which were widely expected to constrict research budgets. But JPMorgan Chase deserves some of the blame as well for conducting a multi-front attack on sell-side research industry that "pulled a rug out from underneath" its competitors. The stock research departments of global banks are suffering this year, with revenues falling in the face of European regulatory reforms that have led their customers to slash research budgets.