As a matter of fact 25% of our U.S. investment banking business comes out of our commercial bank. So it's a competitive advantage for both the investment bank - which gets a huge volume of business - and the commercial bank because the commercial bank can walk into a company and say, "Oh, if you need X, Y and Z in Japan or China, we can do that for you."

I think the politics have gotten better in the United States, which makes it easier to pass legislation, budgets and treaties.

The goal of what Japan's central bank is doing is to create growth. If it actually creates growth, in the long run, it will lead to appreciation.

We have a lot of people who are Republicans, a lot of people who are Democrats, and it's not just because of business reasons.

I advise other companies' CEOs, don't fall into the trap where you go, 'Where's the growth? Where's the growth?' Where's the growth?' They feel a tremendous pressure to grow. Well, sometimes you can't grow. Sometimes you don't want to grow. In certain businesses, growth means you either take on bad clients, excess risk, or too much leverage.

Part of the reason some Japanese companies have underperformed financially was corporate governance and board structures.

From my point of view, the American financial system - including banks and investment banks - is far safer because of capital and liquidity requirements. Despite all the turbulence so far this year, I don't think anyone's questioning our system. And that, obviously, is a good thing.