Five largest investment banks in the US have once-for-all shaken & reshaped by the chronic & long-lasting financial turmoil, resulting from the subprime mortgage crisis half-year ago. "Bear Stearns" disappeared in March, "Lehman Brothers" went into bankruptcy, "Merrill" was sold to Bank of America......In views of their fiasco, the last two giant I-banks, "Goldman Sach" & "Morgan Stanley", will transform themselves into bank holding companies subject to far greater regulation as stipulated by Fed US.
"Deposit-banking is king right now,'' said David Hendler, an analyst at CreditSights Inc. in New York. (source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoDmO_d0IJSU&refer=home)
The transformation of the remaining I-banks in making money through bonds & securities investment into a more traditional and safer way in making money through a deposit base will mark a new era in world finacne. The recent balance sheet of JPMorgan & Chase is a good example.