Mumbai, Dec. 18 :    Mumbai, Dec. 18:  The decks for the creation of the country's first universal bank will be cleared when ICICI Ltd and ICICI Bank seek permission of their shareholders for a reverse-merger on January 24 and 25. The financial entities have submitted a scheme of amalgamation to the Mumbai and Ahmedabad high courts to convene the shareholders' meeting following Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) nod to start legal formalities. The central bank has not cleared the union per se, but asking both sides to win court approval is seen as a sign that it has no problems with a process that would spawn the country's second largest commercial bank. Until the final word is out from the Old Lady of Mint Street, ICICI is gearing up to live with the rigours of the reserve norms (CRR and SLR) that are in force for commercial banks functioning in the country. K. V. Kamath, managing director and CEO of ICICI Ltd, said his institution has sold assets over Rs 4,000 crore so far. Selling these assets, largely corporate and project loans, is a step towards meeting a target of Rs 8,000 crore set for the purpose. He made it clear, however, that retail assets were not offloaded in the purge. Money raised from the sale, as well as an investment of Rs 8,000 crore in government securities, will help the merged outfit meet statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) norms. It is estimated that the burden of maintaining the cash reserve (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratios will be close to Rs 18,000 crore annually. Kamath, speaking to reporters at a function organised by the Mumbai Press Club here today, said the bank will be ready with a strategy for international expansion in early 2002. ICICI Bank, having won regulatory approvals to open a representative office in the UK, has set its sights on the four key financial hotspots of New York, London, Dubai and Singapore. Predicting intense competition between the new-generation private sector banks and foreign banks because of the changing situation in the financial sector, Kamath said: 'Though none of the foreign banks have lined up huge capital investments so far, the threat posed by them continues to be a big one for us.' He said the structure of financial business, technology, range of products being offered and the channels through which they are provided, have changed dramatically over the last couple of years. 'There is also the process of deregulation. All these elements will force the financial services industry to change.' ICICI Bank, he said, has seen over the past few years seen as massive surge in internet accounts and it is now among the top three banks in the world in Net banking - a business that could double in six months. The merger of ICICI and ICICI Bank will engender an entity with assets of Rs 95,000 crore, and 8,275 employees on its rolls.