“

We and the industry are facing unprecedented headwinds, for example from interest rates, which have pressured net interest margins in all of our businesses and from macroeconomic and political uncertainties that have contributed to huge risk aversion among our clients, industry activity levels in investment banking advisory have slowed markedly year on year, and, while equity volumes in the US are buoyant, flat volumes in Europe and sharp declines in Asia do not favor our geographic mix.