My (possibly incomplete) understanding of ‘gardening leave’ in finance is that it’s based on the idea of specific knowledge of trading positions or specific dea

My (possibly incomplete) understanding of ‘gardening leave’ in finance is that it’s based on the idea of specific knowledge of trading positions or specific deal term sheets. It’s not that you can’t compete against us in general or use general techniques, but for 30/60/90 days you have specific knowledge of ongoing operations you can’t use. The hiring firm pays for, but cannot use, the hired person.