I think the economic setup is pretty constructive, especially in the US. Broadly, it's relatively constructive. You've got a confluence of stimulative fiscal policy in developed economies, a general deregulatory trend in tone in the US and Europe, massive AI and infrastructure investment, a monetary easing cycle, and potential stimulative policy actions around midterm elections.

There's a lot going on geopolitically which can lead to speed bumps or distractions, like we saw in April with trade policy rollout. Noise can sap confidence, but generally things look relatively green.

I think the word frayed is better than ruptured. There's a lot of noise that frays trust. The fundamental relationships are still strong. In Davos, I sensed frustration around policy debate, but I think that stuff will get passed. We're in a place where we can make progress on substantive issues, but the administration is shaking things up which leads to noise.

Our relationship with the administration is very, very good. This administration is open for business and engaged with business. They take your calls, listen to your point of view. We push back privately when we don't agree, but they are engaged in a very constructive way.

The environment is very constructive for our banking and markets business. Our backlog is at a significantly high level and moved positively. I think it's going to be a very constructive year for M&A activity - could be one of the best years ever. CEOs feel unleashed to invest and drive growth in a better regulatory environment.

A lot will depend on the trajectory of the economy. We could see upside to both nominal and real growth this year, which would have an impact on whether the trajectory of monetary policy cuts continues.

The chance of recession this year is low in the US. I don't think you'd see one unless there was some exogenous event that materially changed the current sentiment.

We've seen a big move in markets away from Mag 7. There's been broader participation. Companies are investing. There's a big view that AI productivity is going to move into the enterprise, creating flexibility for a broader array of companies to invest. Things are set up quite constructively for the next few years.

Yes, I think it will be a very good year for IPOs in Hong Kong too. There's a lot of pent up capital markets activity, a more conducive regulatory environment, good détente in US-China with constructive setup for dialogue. All that's conducive for more IPO activity.

There's bond market volatility in Japan. Japan needs a more outward looking economy and more growth. We're actually quite excited because we see pensions and corporates in Japan looking more outward, and a culture of risk taking developing that hasn't existed for three decades.