One of the first efforts to ensure research independence in the U.S. is coming from Citigroup Inc.

The firm is reportedly planning to put its retail brokerage and research operations into a new unit to be known as Smith Barney, dropping the old Salomon name. The new unit will be headed by Sallie Krawcheck, the current chair and CEO of renowned independent research house, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC.

The story was broken in the Wall Street Journal this morning and has been picked up by various other outlets. Both Krawcheck and Citigroup declined comment. The move comes on the day when Wall Street’s 10 largest firms are slated to provide a response on various proposals to deal with potential analyst conflicts.

Among other ideas, it has been variously suggested that firms subsidize an independent research house, provide third-party research, or be forced to spinoff their research arms.