♪ >> coming up on bloomberg best, the stories that shaped the week in business around the world. in the u.s., fierce debate over a travel ban and health care plan. >> members of the united states senate have said it is a nonstarter. >> it is dead on arrival. >> china sets its economic targets, and britain accounts for brexit. >> i call it cautiously optimistic or upbeat, but with few giveaways. >> jamie dimon fires from the hip in an exclusive interview. >> the banking problem's not his biggest people say. >> wilbur ross draws the battle lines on trade. >> we have been in a trade war for decades. >> plus, executive insight from the geneva motor show. and international women's day,

thoughts on a journey towards gender equality. >> companies that have more gender diversity perform better. >> the speed is not so fast yet. >> it is straight ahead on bloomberg best. ♪ scarlet: hello and welcome. i am scarlet fu. this is bloomberg best, your weekly review of the most important business around the world. the week began with yet another executive order from u.s. president donald trump. it was a revision of the january travel ban was blocked by court. >> president trump has signed a new travel ban. the directive removes iraq from an original list of seven countries whose citizens cannot travel to the u.s. for the next 90 days. syrian refugees,

who had been originally banned indefinitely. those with existing visas or green cards would be allowed to enter the u.s.. >> thi. >> this will not go into effect until several weeks from now. it is a sign of this administration, they would put forth the kind of message they are tying to correct some of the mistakes they made from the first executive action that were shut down by the ninth district court. >> what is different from a legal perspective? there are concerns. how did the white house address some of those in the executive order today? >> they tried to narrow the ban so it would seem more reasonable, to pass scrutiny under analysis such as due process. but the big question i think in the courts will be what is the significance of president trump's earlier statements when when he was a candidate in

which he explicitly said he thought to impose a ban on a muslims? what is the significance of the interview his friend and colleague rudy giuliani gave when he said trump's purpose was to accomplish a muslim ban without saying so. if the court to give credence to those of statements, then this order could be just as vulnerable as the last one. >> house republicans unveiled long awaited legislation to repeal and replace the affordable care act. today on twitter, president trump touted the plan by tweeting the following. there is going to be an almighty fight on this. is there any middle ground? is there any meeting? >> you know, i think there is. one of the things we are seeing from republicans on capitol hill, you see senator paul making statements like dead on arrival. is also out there saying president trump says it is open to negotiation. maybe that is good news. it is the beginning of a long legislative process.

this is just a start. >> republicans have to show it does not increase the deficit. that it has no higher costs. that is going to be difficult to do for them. even then, even if they are able to use the reconciliation seven of theiry own members in the senate have said it is a nonstarter. so-called replacement program is pretty much dead on arrival. >> it is dead on arrival. i think what we want is for it to be repealed and they wanted to be replaced with something that allows more people to get insurance at a cheaper price. this is just another government program with new entitlements, new taxes. this is not what conservatives want. >> house representative jim jordan says he is going to introduce a bill tomorrow that upl be a clean straight repeal of obamacare. they plan to introduce bills tomorrow that will be straight up, repeal obamacare. >> what we are saying is the

house freedom caucus, what dr. paul and senator lee in the senate were saying, let's do something every single republican voted on and voted for. let's repeal it. but the same legislation on president trump the desk as on president obama's desk. >> the united kingdom, the latest forecasts out of the u.k., the office for budget responsibility delivering a 23.5 billion pound cut in planned borrowing over the next five years. why? the gdp forecasted raising the 2017 economic growth forecast to 2% from 1.4%. brexit bears out there that thought the economy would be better after brexit, that did not transpire. the further you go out, the more the cuts come through. >> to sum up this budget i would call it cautiously optimistic or with few giveaways. at that growth forecast for 2017 from 2% from 1.4% in november.

in every consecutive year after that to 2021, the forecast was either unchanged or downgraded because there is the prospect of brexit looming. this is something philip hammond, the chancellor, did it have to acknowledge. >> the growth forecast has boosted. are you cynical about that or not? >> i think for this year, the u.k. economy could be ok. >> 2% is possible. >> it is possible. we do not get into the meat of brexit until next year. this year is about setting the scene rather than getting into negotiations. it could be closer next year. we will have a struggle to get to. >> unchanged in the ecb, 0%. banged in line with what many bang in line withg forecast.or cas the ecb saying affect purchases

will be 60 billion euros from april to december. on schedule, it has already been flagged. 80 billion a month until the end of march. and the headline everyone was looking for, the ecb rates lower for an extended. bank and passed the qe horizon. >> how and when does draghi begin to communicate that the ecb will wind down its qe program? >> i think the sequence is forward guidance, changing that, then changing the asset purchases, the tapering. and then the policy rates. i think that came through in today's press conference. change toal forward guidance would come earliest at the june meeting. i think they want to get over the french election hump. of an outcomek there that could put their economic outlook onto a completely different trajectory. they will get those uncertainties behind them. if we keep getting the same

momentum we are seeing in global the data like the u.s. labor market, if that keeps going, june should be the point in time where we see a significant change on forward guidance. >> the payrolls report coming from d.c. with bloomberg's michael mckee right now. >> john, the wall street traders nailed it. economists didn't. 235,000 jobs were created. the whisper number, 230,000. higher than forecasted. economist did nail the unemployment rate, 4.7%, down by .1%. the disappointment in this number, if there is a such a thing, 0.2% rise in average hourly earnings brings the year over year to 2.8%, lower than had been forecasted. >> solid overall, good for wall street. it has the goldilocks element in

the context of a fed hike cycle, and somewhat this good for main street because wages could have been better. itthe federal reserve, did move the dial for them at all? what has changed in the last two weeks that drove them to come out? >> i think this report means we definitely get a hike next week, but it does not mean we get more than three hikes for 2017. not as yet, at least. the market expected a hike next week. the only thing it was worried about was due we get a higher path on future rates? this addressed that we do not. on f t: still to come "bloomberg best", jamie dimon explains why he wants european banks to fly. we hear from the geneva motor show. plus, gender issues under the microscope. and more of the week's top

business stories. european car companies consolidate. so what drove the deal? >> we will enlarge our brand portfolio and a wider range of customers. scarlet: this is bloomberg. ♪

scarlet: this is "bloomberg best". i am scarlet fu. let's continue our global tour of this week's top business stories at the national people's congress in china where they announced key economic objectives are 2017. >> the chinese premier delivering the government's economic targets for the year. the emphasis will be on civility and reducing risk. he also sent a clear message about who is in charge in china. give me the key takeaway. >> front and center was that 6.5%, and target of possibly higher was what they added into the phrasing.

then we had things like cpi, 3%. that to gdp around 3%. and the greater liberalization of the yuan, signaling around the currency. suggestext seems to that the reformers who have debated the back and forth over the last two months do have the upper hand. >> is there any doubt china can reach the 6.5% target? >> in a politically sensitive year like this one, they will do everything possible to achieve a 6.5% target. i do not see any problems. because now the economy is doing very well. you have the property market booming, the old economy, traditional industries recovering. the service industry is also growing at a rapid pace. so the growth target can be met. >> deutsche bank's ceo john cryan is ripping up his plan, the 17 month old effort has

stopped. that includes offering a billion euros in stock and reintegrating prospects. >> it is good in terms of stability of deutsche bank, . remember that last year there was a lot of worry over the existential future of the bank. this should but that to rest and give it a best in class capital raised to keep clients coming back in. when do we see a profit? there is no deadline attached to these proposed targets. there are upfront costs. this is a costly strategy to reintegrate. there is a lot of uncertainty and no clear trajectory. >> i personally feel much more comfortable sitting in the seat i sit this time, this year, then i obviously would have done last year. we are feeling much more positive because the environment is good. we're seeing growth again. to some extent we have done hard work. there is still quite a lot to do. we are still focused on improving controls and efficiency, but there will be a lot more fun as we develop those

businesses in the future. >> general motors has agreed to sell its long struggling european opel and vauxhall units to france's psa group, valued at 2.2 billion euros. the second-largest carmaker. >> the deal is done. they took a lot of discussion with the unions and government. swansongary barra's from gm. exiting europe, finally. this puts them at number two. that is what he gets. scale, size, and brand. he is set to deliver synergies of $1.7 billion between now and 2026. what about gm? share buybacks are on the agenda. that is what gm intends to do with the proceeds from this divestment. >> being that europe is from a regulatory perspective and customer preference perspective, has divert somewhat from the risk of our global operations. as a result we need to find a way to get more scale locally

here so we can make the investments necessary to be successful in the business going forward. >> i think having the opportunity to leverage two iconic brands like opel and auzhall is a big opportunity for a company like ours. we can and get to a larger group of customers. if we have brexit, it is much better the source from inside. >> let's turn to the latest on a brexit. sterling falling to a seven-week low against the dollar. theresa may faces a new setback in the house of lords. what happens today? what admin minced will be added to this draft bill? >> house of lords looking to rewrite the bill. they won a meaningful vote to get theresa may to subject any deal she does strike in a couple years to a parliament vote.

they do not like it. they view it as an impediment to negotiations. they worry it will undermine her negotiating position and they would like to see none of it. >> it is a blow? >> it is a bit of a disappointment. next week, there is some chapter tter that even if she gets the bill passed next week, we might look toward the end of march for this article 50. >> the national people's congress in beijing, day four. the attention has been shifting abroad. they have been touching on topics including china's relations with the u.s. summit , a between president xi and trump, and beijing's unpredictable ally, north korea. let's start with the chances of a summit. is this some it possible? >> it seems like it. the two presidents will be meeting at some point. we have yet to know when or where that will take place. he said there had been something of a reset of relations between

the u.s. and china after that phone call between president xi and president trump. he said he is expecting a positive relationship with his counterpart. rex tillerson will be there next week. he also addressed north korea and said tensions are rising. he called on the north koreans to stop their nuclear program. he also called on the u.s. and south korea to stop their military exercises. he wants to see engagement and talks, and said that china is ready to play a role in facilitating those talks. >> china's number two telecoms maker is being find for violating u.s. restrictions on the sale of american technology to iran. zte will plead guilty and pay as much as $1.2 billion. give us a little bit more background here and what are the terms of this settlement? >> this is a big settlement for zte. they are agreeing to pay $1.2 billion. they are also pleading guilty to

three felonies, including violating export laws and obstruction of justice here, so it is a big deal for the company. it is clear the trump administration is trying to make an example out of the company. commerce secretary wilbur ross held a press conference where he said that this is an example of how the administration will hold account for violating export laws. even though it began earlier, they are using it as an example of how tough they plan to be going forward. moving big, off by 7.5% over the last two days. u.s. production moving higher, stockpiles moving higher. ceo of continental says more shale investment could chill the market? is this capitulation? >> no, i do not think we are there yet. so what is happening? we have built up a massive long position in oil. it stayed that way over several weeks.

so what we are seeing in the markets are those longs coming out. i do not think they are anticipating a massive plunge in prices. it is down from the level we saw last year. it is more that they are taking bets off the rally and they are not expecting a rally. it is not capitulation, a . it is a repositioning in the european market. >> an extension of the opec, non-opec agreement? it really puts the nail in the coffin in terms of the need to do more, extend, coordinate further. >> it depends on how far opec wants to go. they can keep the oil price at 50 and definitely if you cut enough. the question is, how far do they want to go? >> the fall of a president. south korea's highest court says that park's impeachment is illegal. >> all the judges ruled against her. she has lost all her powers and immunity. >> the justice explaining to the president park

geun-hye had to be removed from office. they were saying that president park had continuously violated law. she had a chancellor's influence in affairs. chancellor choi soon-sil is a close confidant of park geun-hye, and they were accused of colluding in order to get bribes, and also abusing president park's power. the court saying that president park violated the constitution , that she abused power, the for hertial power interest, along with other charges. ♪

scarlet: welcome back to "best of bloomberg." i am scarlet fu. lacqua week, francine

sat down for an exclusive interview with jpmorgan's ceo, jamie dimon. she asked him what will president trump do for the economy? >> here is what is positive, look at the policies, not the tweets. look at the people on the ground top professionals in the , military, defense secretary, secretary of treasury, serious people with deep knowledge and deep experience. their mission is to have a growth agenda. that agenda is reducing corporate taxes, starting to build better infrastructure that we definitely need, reducing regulatory regime that has held us back. i think it is good for all americans. middle-class, job creation. business confidence has jumped a lot. probably because of the progrowth agenda. >> do you have any doubt he will be able to follow through? >> i have been watching politics for years. the republicans have the house, the senate, 30 plus governorships. they have a better chance of getting those things done. i don't know the exact timetable.

the euphoria from the positive growth from pro-business is there. remember, the democrats acknowledged corporate taxes too high in america. they will not waste money because they are against bridges, tunnels, roads. most people acknowledge now that it is time to look at the regulatory regime and recalibrate and make sure it is both conducive to growth and does not hurt small business formation. been speaking to a lot of european banking ceos who are terrified that if donald trump the regulates wall street to much, you are not on o much, you are not on a level playing field with europe. >> while there is criticism, at the end of the day, steve mnuchin and others, they will work out things that make sense for everybody. an un-levelant

playing field. i want the european banks to thrive. if the european banks do not thrive, europe will not thrive. the regulators should look at those things and help european banks compete and thrive to grow their economies. much more than the united states, because they finance 70% or 80% of the economy. the rest is done through capital market activity. the european rate banking system at the moment? we have tried to help the italian banks. i don't know if you think it is successful or not. deutsche bank is trying to raise capital. are we over the worst? >> we were that close to fixing it. we could have got it done. i hope we get it done. the banking promises not as big as others say. on the balancech sheets, so much already written off. so, i would like to see the banks -- first of all, in the old days, banks were going pan-european.

because of the crisis in new rules, they have been going back. i think the right way is a pan-european regulator. it is better, more diversified, creates efficiencies and assist them. i think you will eventually see mergers and acquisitions in european banks. >> will europe implode? keepingare devoted to it together. they are devoted to moving forward. these problems are creating some of these concerns among the populations. thate worst case is someone major decides to leave the monetary union at some point, and that is hugely disruptive. scarlet: plenty of interviews ahead on bloomberg best. socgen ceo braces for european transition. they say it is high time for a fed hike. and, the geneva motor show. wilbur ross talks trade. the trade secretary talks about

why nafta needs a fix. >> there were some things that were missed. there were some things not done correctly to begin with. scarlet: this is bloomberg. ♪

in the oil market, goldman reiterated its outlook for crude rose to $57.57 a barrel, but declining to $55 the rest of the year. we will talk about the demand in ll and the supply response. >> when we think on the positive side of the ledger, we have seen two things. an upward revision to 2016 demand levels. >> yeah. >> also, a positive macro data to suggest there is upside growth risk to demand in 2017. also on the positive ledger, you had core opec, saudi and the

withof the gulf states , compliance better than thought. that is the positive ledger. on the negative ledger, in the u.s., supply response gaining momentum faster than we thought. two reasons. one is productivity gains, and access to capital. you put it all together, we did not change our forecast because the positive things offset the negative things and we and up in the same place. we are confident you will see inventory draws. scarlet: that was jeff curry at goldman sachs explaining his bullish outlook for oil. program, jonathan ferro spoke exclusively with a the socgen ceo. despite elections that could cloud the eurozone he is keeping a positive outlook.

>> we thought 2017 would be a transition. but the reinforcement of the eurozone and spend time precisely to say to politicians, strategically about the next 10 years. >> what is the biggest issue for societe generale right now? the uncertainty around -- the lack of reforms, or the ecb? which is a bigger headache? >> there is a karen t there is uncertainty, but it does not translate so much in an economy climate. the economy is doing relatively well in the beginning of year and the eurozone, and france in particular. beyond this, the normalization of interest rates is important going forward because it would mean you would have more growth. you will have also maybe the additional political steps to help the ecb to normalize policy. for us, for our p&l exiting

, rates would be a good thing. >> the other question, many banks are coming out and saying european financials deserve lower valuations against u.s. peers because of complexities of both politics and the situation in the economies as well. things are relatively weak. do you believe that? that there should be a cheaper by you wish and applied to your bank compared with similar u.s. institution? >> it is a too short review. in the short-term, the u.s. will benefit from a slightly more dynamic economy and interest rate environment. in europe, in particular, the eurozone, we have more work ahead. we have more work to build a financial service which is more balanced between capital markets and banks. we have more years may be to wait for the full normalization of the monetary policy. but going forward, there is also a formidable opportunity for european players to take advantage of this construction, which would be more completed than what we see today, so i

remain optimistic. i see more and more positive steps in the european sector. >> over in the u.s., health care regulation dominated headlines this week, but investors are waiting anxiously for the trump administration to move forward on trade policy and infrastructure planes. we discussed these issues with several guests on bloomberg television, including commerce secretary, wilbur ross. he told david westin where he stands on nafta. >> it is an old treaty. our economy is very different from what it was when that treaty was entered into. you did not have the digital economy. services were not as important as they are now. and further, we have now had decades of experience with the treaty. very hard to get a several thousand page document right at inception, and there were things in it that were missed, things that were not done correctly to begin with. and a lot of things that might

have been ok back then, but don't work now. so there is a lot to fix. >> and both the canadian and mexican government have said things like that. it is an old treaty. there is room for negotiation, gives and takes. that is one model. another model is we have a substantial trade deficit with mexico we have to fix. what is driving the department of commerce? >> both. >> as you go into these negotiations, how mindful are you of the possibility of a trade war? were sanctions would be taken that might escalate, go to wto, reciprocal sanctions, how mindful are you of that danger? >> we are in a trade war. we have been in a trade war for decades. that is why we have the deficit. the difference is that our troops are now coming to the ramparts. that is the only change. >> it sounds like it will be a shooting war. >> it is not a shooting war. if people know you have the big bazooka, you do not have to use it. >> do you have a view on the

border adjustment tax? >> yes, my view is that i studying it carefully as it am evolves. as we get to understand more of the intricate details of it and how it interacts with everything else, that is when we will take a position. >> help me here with the american interpretation of international trade. how do we get back to a multilateral dialogue, or is the there be as one example, is that dead? >> right. you're asking me political questions. i think the wto, like all institutions, is not perfect. but it has done a good job. maybe there are places where we have gone too far, places where we haven't, but it seems to me that the wto is still a place to do business. bilateral of doing trade negotiations seems much less attractive from an economic

port of view. point of view. >> let's talk about the border tax. >> i am not against of the border tax. it can do good things and provide incentives for firms to take care of profits where they take place. you will decrease the shell game we have seen. it is not a solution to everything. the border tax will be paid by the farmers. it will not be paid by the farmers. we make money on the border tax because we have trade deficits. one day if we have trade deficits, we will have to have trade surpluses. and what is positive tax revenue now, will be tax spending on negative taxes in the future. so it is basically are much a form of debt finance, which will be financed by the u.s. taxpayers. so the notion that foreigners will pay for it is wrong. >> we are optimistic on growth.

the one thing we would do in the white house is we are going to set very realistic growth projections. we have looked back at all the prior administrations in the beginning and saw what they put out for gdp forecast at the beginning of their administration, and none of them got close to meeting their gdp project is. we will actually put out gdp projections we think we can not only meet, but beat. we would rather under promise and over deliver than overpromise. we think it is relatively easy to do in the part of the cycle we are in. we are seeing the activity we have seen from ceos and the fact we will be rolling back regulation, bringing new tax policies in the united states. we are optimistic about the gdp growth we think is coming. >> if you look at the projections for gdp growth, it 2.3%, 2.4%. up to would you expect something materially better than that?

>> we are already in the middle of this year. in moving 2.3% or 2.4% projection higher, it will be tough to move it dramatically higher this year. yes, we would like to outperform that prediction this year. but as we grow over the next year or two, we think we can substantially improve on that number as we get tax reform done in the second half of this year, as we continue to get the jobs created from the companies that committed job growth to us in the future. we think growing the gdp forward will be relatively in-line with our projections. our projections are cautiously optimistic and we think we can outperform them. so, yes, we will continue to see growth, but this year has started to be banked in, but we will outperform where some of the projections are. march fomc holds its meeting next year and all signs point to with fed increase. one expert says it is about time. he joined daybreak asia to dig deeper into the upcoming decision.

>> you say the fed is running out of excuses. not to raise rates? is there any left? >> they have been pretty creative in the last couple of years at times, coming up for reasons why they cannot raise rates. they have run the gamut of those. at this point, particularly given the signals they have already sent, they would do their credibility damage if they did not do it now. >> the other very important part of this two-day meeting, march 14 and 15, the fed comes out with its summary of economic projections, the famous dot plots. there was a narrow consensus for three increases in 2017. do you think that consensus might get bigger or moved to to four rate hikes? what would you be voting for? dot look like if

you were there? >> my dot was on the high end. i think there would be more consensus closer to three. i think they will be cautious. what we have seen it since the election in the markets and performance of the economy is, in fact, the market has gone up. the forecast looks better. but there is more uncertainty around it. in other words, what policies the trump administration will actually deliver, what they will look like, how effective they will be. nobody really knows for sure. but what the fed sees is that there is a lot of uncertainty. but in fact, what they call the risks, are to the upside. that is what they see, how to interpret what they are doing. even know their forecast may not move much. ♪

scarlet: you're watching

"bloomberg best." i am scarlet fu. the world's leading auto executives gathered this week at the geneva auto show. they spoke about challenges facing their companies and the industry as a whole. psa purchase of opel and vauxhall will affect their business. >> frankly, i do not think it will affect anything. i have always said that the industry is moving toward consolidation. you will see more and more players trying to gain, in terms of scale. it is logical, because of all the investments we need to face in terms of products and technologies, geographic footprint, even variety of your product offered, that is difficult if you're a small car manufacturer to be facing the future. so what is happening is something which was predicted, forecasted, and in my opinion, also integrated in our own

strategy. >> you have already gotten involved in consolidation yourself with mitsubishi. do you plan on going further? is there anybody else you are looking at? >> every opportunity we have to grow intrinsically or by having newcomers, we are going to do it. we know how to play scale. we know how to transform scale into a higher level of competitiveness, whether it is about costs, technology, or quality. because we know how to do that, we obviously want to play to the maximum. the mitsubishi project has been done in a short period of time. this is something that will be adding to the performance of mitsubishi and renault. >> brexit has a huge impact. we are the number one player in the market. 30% of our european sales are in a u.k. just the weakening of the currency, of sterling, is a $600 million headwind. our profit base is at $1.2 billion.

so it has a huge impact on us. the good news is our team, we have been in business 100 years. we know how to adjust on issues like a weaker sterling, things we can do about it. it just means we will have to be more diligent on our costs. >> what does that mean? are you going to have to lose jobs in england? areo, no, but there certainly more pressures on the cost base for the company. we have to make sure material costs, logistics costs distribution costs are as , efficient as they can be. we made tremendous progress last year, year over year, on cost, and we just need to do it again this year. >> europe for land rover is the most important market. that means we not only sell in finished goods into europe, but we also buy components out of

europe. giving that, we need free and fair trade. plants, thebout the production? do you have any special agreements with the british government? do you think they can offer you something? you have to stay, obviously. but concessions are being made to other carmakers. >> we do not see concessions. we have a fixed operational footprint, and we cannot change operational footprints quickly, therefore the product has to decide at the end of the day, the customer will decide. scarlet: also this week, bloomberg television focused on critical issues of diversity in business on international women's day. women who are global exports, leaders, and influencers, joined us for their perspectives. let's start with one of japan's

foremost female politicians, the governor of tokyo. she told us how she evaluates the progress of women in japan. >> well, there is little improvement since the new policies toward women are mixed have been taken. but unfortunately, i should say that the speed is not fast yet. two steps advancing, and one step going behind. >> you are one of them more popular politicians in japan. would you say that the country is becoming more open to female leadership? >> yes, i would like to believe so. i hope that as many women as assemblyto run for the , and the election will take place in july. by selecting as many women legislators or women politicians at the local tokyo assembly, we

will surely make tokyo change. .1% of u.s. mutual fund managers are women, and according to morningstar, that is lower than the rest of the world, where it is one in five are female. why is the u.s. so far behind? >> the problem is twofold, from two sources. part of it is a pool problem. we do not have enough women in the academic arenas that fueled portfolio management. we see women underrepresented in , particularly stem science, engineering, mathematics. the second issue we have is a matching problem. if you're are a young woman coming into finance today, you actually don't see a a lot of successful women portfolio managers that you can actually relate to. it is a complicated question. but i think those two things, really the pool problem and the matching problem are probably the most important sources or

barriers to really seeing women's presence increased in portfolio management in general. >> with deregulation coming for the financial industry, with this reflation trade gathering momentum, will financial companies now have more to look forward to in terms of growth prospects, put aside gender equality initiatives because brighter days are ahead? >> we certainly hope not. if you look at female representation at all levels of corporation, it is pitiful. if you look at ceos, it is less than 5%. if you look at boards, less than 20%. if you look at senior leadership, it is less than 25%. we do not think those numbers are good enough. what you find, companies with more gender diversity perform better. they have better return on equity. they are better managed from a risk standpoint. we hope finally that corporate america has woken up to that. >> you guys are doing something

about that. you are going to companies you have investments in and talking to them and saying, you have to put more women on board. >> we are, indeed. roughly 25% of the russell 2000 does not have a single woman on their board. fewer than 60% have 50% or more female representation. we will be engaging with those boards and look for them to make meaningful change and improve the diversity on their board. ♪

>> i wanted to bring up some proprietary data we have put together here at bloomberg. it is the bloomberg financial services gender equality index. we track financial firms that have disclosure, best in class policies and practices in the

general quality space. there are 30,000 functions on the bloomberg and we enjoy showing you our favorites on bloomberg television. maybe they will become your favorites. here is another one you will find useful, quic . this will tell you to our quick takes where you can find timely topics. here is one from this week. >> the palestinians must recognize the jewish state. >> the election of donald trump has emboldened benjamin netanyahu. just after trump's inauguration, netanyahu's government announced it would build a settlement in the west bank. breaking decades of u.s. policy, the trump administration has said it does not view existing settlements as an obstacle to peace in the region. but responding to israel's announcement, u.s. officials have said expanding settlements may not be helpful in achieving peace. >> i would like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit. we will work something out. >> here is the situation. the west bank is populated mostly by palestinians who hope

to make it part of an independent state, palestine. since israel conquered the territory half a century ago, israeli numbers have increased. since 1995, the population has has grown four times faster than israel itself. whether hawkish or dovish, they every israeli government has supported the expansion of settlements. why do israelis choose to settle in the west bank? there are three main reasons. one, religion. many religious jews point to the bible, which says the land was promised to them by god. two, security. some israelis think settlements act as a defense against the -- occurrede when in 1948 when arab countries invaded israel. three, affordability. others like the high standard of living made possible by government subsidies in the settlements. but according to international courts of justice, israeli settlements breach national law. here is the argument.

barriers, buffer zones, and israeli soldiers to secure settlers make life difficult for palestinians. both palestinians and some israelis argue that settlements play into a bigger problem. they prevent peace by eating up and dividing the land. any peace agreement would likely hinge on israel taking on the tough task of removing tens of thousands of settlers from the west bank. israel has removed settlers as it withdrew from occupied territory in the past, but those were smaller numbers. >> even if every single settlement were dismantled tomorrow, peace still would not be attainable without both sides of knowledge and uncomfortable truths and making difficult choices. >> choices such as where to draw borders, how to share jerusalem, and how to ensure each side's security. scarlet: that was just one of the many quick takes you can find on the bloomberg. do can also find them at bloomberg.com along with latest business news and analysis 24

hour the day. "bloomberge all for best" this week. thank you for watching. i am scarlet fu. ♪

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