What good is the universal bank model?

Citigroup gets all the attention, but the universal banking model was embraced by other banks over the past decade or so, though not to the same degree. The idea of course was to create a set of integrated services that offered customers one-stop financial shopping. In so doing, another benefit would emerge: Business diversification would make banks better able to withstand various shocks. The likes of HSBC, UBS and JPMorgan Chase all bought into that. The AP notes that the current crisis seems to be putting the lie to such thinking. Is JPMorgan Chase better off for its 2004 purchase of Bank One? Ladenburg Thalmann's Richard Bove doesn't think so. Also, the internal breakup of UBS strikes some as admission that the universalist model has yielded bitter fruit. Clearly, the subprime reach was incredibly extensive, reaching across consumer and institutional markets.

For more:
- here's the AP article

Related Article:
Is the current banking model obsolete?