But he also said, "We believe the right model is a global universal bank."

The first basic problem that universal banks face is risk management.

The form that the universal bank will take is still undecided.

We are also not part of a universal bank.

If you ask me, Citi’s “unique global universal bank model” is in fact its greatest weakness.

Yet the biggest universal banks have continued to gain ground over the past five years, for several reasons.

It is a universal bank that offers a full range of banking services to individuals and companies.

Universal banks have had an odd relationship with asset management.

It is a universal bank, with functions of commercial and investment banking.

So universal banks know that if their investments work out, they keep the profits.

Universal banks the world over are doing the same.

As for the profitability of universal banks in Japan these days, the less said the better.

Universal banks, more commonly known as financial services companies, engage in several of these activities.

Its main target is the universal bank model, the combination of commercial and investment banking.

When the debate is rational, it centres on just what universal banks really do.

At the end of the day, we will have a set of universal banks.

Barclays has long sought to become a top global universal bank.

It was abolished because customers wanted the services universal banks can provide.

And the third is that universal banks are a dreadful deal for investors.

France’s universal banks have emerged from the crisis in reasonable shape.

Many large universal banks are a complex portfolio of franchises.

Dresdner is a universal bank with a large branch network.

The repeal led to more "universal banks" offering an even greater range of services.

It is a universal bank with 120 branches and offices covering all major cities in the country.

So cost alone is not necessarily a convincing argument in favour of universal banks.