But most investment banks do not have the luxury of also being a big universal bank.
The latest defense of the universal bank model comes from Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman.
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Some government help would almost certainly be needed to get a universal bank off the ground.
"They made a strong case that they wanted to maintain a universal bank model, " Bove said.
Asset-management firms that are part of a universal bank are especially at risk from such conflicts of interest.
ICICI's shares are counting on Vaman Kamath, its chief executive, and his determination to recast it as a universal bank.
This strategy will be centered on our leading wealth management businesses and our position as the strongest universal bank in Switzerland.
Take a transatlantic combination of a lumbering, accident-prone universal bank with a prickly, free-wheeling investment bank, and only the foolhardy would bet on success.
Wachovia, under its former CEO, Ken Thompson, tried to build itself into a universal bank, a business model common in Europe but rare in America.
For shareholders, too, the universal bank may offer false comfort.
Big bank CEOs may not have the most objective of voices but they are loud and powerful, and these days they are using them to defend their universal bank model more openly.
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The woes of Citigroup put paid to the myth of the indestructible universal bank, even as the success of Canada's banks (see article) showed that a system of a few domestic giants can work.
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And it is interesting that, for him, the fundamental question is whether it is possible to have an effective single code of conduct for a universal bank like Barclays, when the motivations and instincts of investment banking traders and branch managers are so different.
Djojohadikusumo controls or has interests in Bank Papan Sejahtera, Bank Industri, Bank Pelita and Bank Universal.
Bank Universal, for example, is controlled by manufacturing giant Astra International.
He is similarly concerned about the impact of the new Universal Credit paid into a bank account and accessible only online.
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In recent years the trend has been towards some form of universal banking, with the same bank providing both retail and investment services.
However, such an overhaul should not have to mean a replacement or upgrade to existing systems, but rather a universal platform that connects throughout the bank, interrogating all the necessary data on demand, and using the latest high speed technology.
Universal banks, such as Citigroup and Bank of America, long dismissed as stodgy, argue that their vast balance sheets and wide range of businesses, from cards to capital markets, give them an edge in trying times.
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Having had pretty much universal agreement from the IMF, World Bank, OECD and others that now was not the time for retrenchment, we are coming to that time when addressing the U.S. budget deficit will be a priority.
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Universal clawbacks of pay for any restatement a bank has to make, whether for fraud or for a typographical error, are an essential part of a legitimate pay plan.
In Manila, for instance, the World Bank had thrice lent money to the municipal utility, only to find that universal coverage remained a distant goal, much of the cash was siphoned off and half the water was still disappearing through leaks or theft.
Four big universal financial groups, created from the merger of six keiretsu into three, together with a regional bank alliance.
"The right direction for Indonesia is universal or supermarket banking, " says Okkie, who notes that two other corporate-oriented players, Bank Niaga (No. 324) and Bank Bira (No. 427), are going the retail banking route.
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