In one sense not much will change. The firms we regarded as investment banks had already become large financial conglomerates. Morgan Stanley ceased to be a stand-alone investment bank in 1997 when it merged with the consumer finance company Dean Witter. Goldman broadened away from investment banking when it expanded its trading and principal investment activities after it went public in 1999 and by 2007 less than 15 per cent of its pre-tax profits came from investment banking. The truth is that pure investment banks ceased to exist long ago. The absorption of some famous old names into banks and the redefinition of some others will make little difference to client service or market dominance. In respect of their performance as investment banks it is a matter of semantics whether such financial conglomerates include or exclude banking alongside their many other businesses.
从某种意义上说，不会有太大改变。我们视为投资银行的公司已经变成大型金融综合集团。摩根士丹利1997年与消费者金融公司添惠(Dean Witter)合并后，就不再是一家独立的投资银行。高盛1999年上市后，通过拓展交易和本金投资活动，跨出了投资银行业的范畴，到2007年，其税前利润仅有不足15%来自投行业务。事实上，纯粹的投行早就不复存在。将一些知名的老品牌纳入银行之中，以及将一些其他品牌重新定义，几乎不会影响客户服务或市场份额。至于作为投资银行的绩效，这些金融集团是否将银行业务与其它各项业务并列只是个一个符号问题。