A financial institution (FI) that can engage in a broad range of financial service activities. Financial system in US has traditionally been structured along separatist or segmented product lines. Regulatory barriers and restrictions have often inhibited the ability of an FI operating in one area of the financial services industry to expand its product set into other areas. This might be compared with FIs operating in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK, where a more universal FI structure allows individual financial services organizations to offer a far broader range of banking, insurance, securities, and other financial services products. However, the recent merger between Citicorp and Travelers to create Citigroup, the largest universal bank or financial conglomerate in the world, was a sign that the importance of regulatory barrier in the US is receding. Moreover, the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 has accelerated the reduction in the barriers among financial services firms. Indeed, as consolidation in the US and global financial services industry proceeds apace, we are likely to see acceleration in the creation of very large, globally oriented multi-product financial service firms.