The latest mantra is Universal Banking, which is combination of Commercial &

Investment Banking. The concept is most relevant in the United Kingdom and the United
States, Barclays Bank, Chase Manhattan and Citicorp are some of the examples of it. there
was a distinction between investment banks and commercial banks.

In both countries, however, the regulatory barrier to the combination of investment

banks and commercial banks has largely been removed, and a number of universal banks
have emerged in both jurisdictions. However, at least up until the global financial crisis of
2008, there remained a number of large, pure investment banks.

In other countries, the concept is less relevant as there is not regulatory distinction
between investment banks and commercial banks. Thus, banks of a very large size tend to
operate as universal banks, while smaller firms specialized as commercial banks or as
investment banks. notable examples of such universal banks include Deutsche
Bank of Germany, and UBS and Credit Suisse of Switzerland.

Universal banking is the solution to FIs problems. A universal bank participates in

many kinds of banking activities and is both a Commercial bank and an Investment bank.

The merger of ICICI and ICICI bank is probably the largest merger seen in corporate
India Industry, which has redefine banking in the highly competitive era of globalization and
liberalization. Post merger, the new entity- ICICI Bank is the first Universal Bank in India
and the second largest commercial bank in the country after SBI. Financial Institutions &
Insurance Companies are now merging ahead to capture new business areas and leading
towards Universal Banking.