The broad popularity of Facebook has reached the point to where investment banks have blocked employees from using the social networking site. But a financial trade publication has found that, in fact, thousands of banking staff continue to use it. 
  
Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers  Holdings, JPMorgan, Bear Stearns and UBS deny access to Facebook because of concerns employees  spend too much time on it, Financial News reported. 
  
Still, nearly 20 percent of Goldman’s employees are members of the Goldman-only network on Facebook, the publication said.  Deutsche Bank was second with 11.3 percent signed up  to the bank’s network and Lehman third with 10.4 percent.

The fact that investment banks are cracking down on Facebook usage comes with a certain amount of irony, considering that Wall Street is throwing itself at the company in hopes of roping in the company and its founder Mark Zuckerberg as a client. Though Facebook has said it’s not up for sale, bankers await the day it files to go public or is sold to a corporate /private equity buyer. Facebook just named an ex YouTube finance chief as its CFO, in a sign the company may be ramping up its IPO plans. 

(Reporting by Jeffrey Goldfarb in London)

(Photo: Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Wikipedia)