In the u. S. , which we had to reduce our tax asset, reducing completely our tax level in the u. S. , with Significant Growth of our net profit. Swiss re says it is considering a partnership with softbank after better than expected profits and returning more cash to shareholders. We feel comfortable that we have the ability to return funds to share hoholders. And a number of negative earnings limit cap gains in europe as James Bullard tells cnbc that rates should not go up too quickly. The idea that we have to go 100 basis points in 2018, that seems like a lot to me thats price for perfection. Everything would have to go just right. The economy would have to surprise on the upside a bunch of times in the year im not sure thats a good way to think about 2018. Good morning flat open so far across europe the stoxx 600 slightly into negative territory, but not by a massive, massive margin. Its down less than 0. 1 we look at the individual markets, you can see its a bit of a mixed picture the ftse mib up 0. 10 . The fotse 100 up 0. 24. Phoenix is in the green after Standard Life aberdeen agreed to sell its Insurance Unit to the company for 3. 2 billion sterling it is also trading at the top of the stoxx 600. Shares of rbs are selling off after fullyear net profit misses expectations. And valeo is at the bottom of the european markets after earnings sank on a tax charge. Shares in swiss re opened higher after better than expected estimates net profit came in at 3 331 million, significantly down from 3. 3. 56 billion just a year ago. The firm proposed raising its dividend and they are still talking to softbank about the sale of a Minority Stake and said there is no certainty any deal would be concluded. Joumanna is in zurich this morning. What possible justification does the Company Offer for raising its dividend good morning. So they would say theyre starting from a position of strength starting from a Strong Capital position, despite the hit that clearly the 2017 natural catastrophes took on their top line earnings. They said in total all those natural disasters together have had an impact of 4. 7 billion in terms of total claims, which explains why the net income number dropped significantly from 2016 to 2017. That being said they did stage a turnaround from the Third Quarter earnings to q4 and ended up positive. So that is some of the justification for raising dividends, and also announcing another 1 billion Share Buyback program. Also people are looking for further clues on the softbank partnership. A couple weeks ago there was a report that came out that softbank were thinking about buying a 10 billion stake in swiss re they have confirmed they are in discussion with softbank and the board of directors is assessing the strategic and financial implication of such a partnership. I sat down with david cole and asked why this partnership would make sense for them. Discussions are ongoing, still preliminary. Its not the right time to go into details but if you think about our strategy at swiss re its about allocating capital to Insurance Risk its about insuring and extending access to risk pools its about positioning ourselves in parts of the world where growth rates are higher. And lastly its about addressing this continuing protection gap that we see. So i think when we engage with clients, engage with potential partners, its always about how we can continue to actually pursue this strategy i did not mention technology, but technology is quite important. We see a digitalization going on across the world that will also impact the insurance sector if you combine our role, allocate our cap tam to Insurance Risk pools, we want to extend access to risk pools, stay on the forefront of technology and make sure were helping the world address this protection gap you can put some of the context and discussions with various parties into the right context assuming this deal goes ahead, would swiss re be offering Insurance Products to some companies owned by softbank i dont want to talk about the deal and wloerhether or nott will go ahead, we want to address this protection gap. One last question on this topic, some reports suggest that the stake could be 10 bil yo 1 in swiss re. Lets let the discussions take place if we come to the conclusion that we can reach an agreement thats in the interest of our shareholders, well have something to say about it then so, not giving a lot of color on the timing there. But two things did stand out to me from that conversation. One is the identification of a protection gap, in the sense that this partnership would open up a lot of markets to them in the sense that if you look at softbank, they have a stake in uber, a lot of employees who work for uber are not covered by insurance, and this could offer swiss re to offer Insurance Products directly. The other thing he said is that technology is very important to them and if you look at softbank and the type of institution that it has become, they have become more active in the technology space. They have a private equity arm that invests in technology companies. That will give swiss re some access and partnership theyre looking for. David said the timing is unclear, theyre thinking about the Strategic Priorities and the financial imperatives of going down the route if such a deal does happen. Did he give any idea about his views on bond yields and what impact that could have on the industry insurers are very heavily invested in fixed income as a part of managing liability sets. I did pose that question i said with fixed income yields rising so much, will that have an impact on your overall portfolio . He said not necessarily, because ultimately rising yields is a good thing for the industry from a discounting perspective. So higher yields means your discounting your liabilities at a higher rate and ultimately you have less liabilities in the future bottom line is hes saying higher yields is a good thing for the industry as far as the fixed Income Portfolio is concerned, they have 100 billion worth of fixed income bonds in their universe it would actually be a good thing for them in terms of opportunities going forward. Thank you very much for that. The chinese regulator has seized control of anbang insurance after charging the chairman with several crimes including fundraising fraud the move highlights the countrys continued crackdown on financial risk anbang has been on an aggressive buying spree and has 3 315 billion in assets. Anbang will remain a private company, but the regulator has invited outside investors to take part in a restructuring that will include an injection of capital Nancy Hungerford has been following this story from singapore. What have we heard about the chairman, wu xiaohui not a whole lot prosecutors saying in a oneline sentence citie inine ining fraut fundraising and abuse of position in terms of the former chairman i think thats significant wu xiaohui has been prosecuted according to law on Economic Crimes this has been ongoing for quite some time. Wu xiaohui has been detained since june, and since that time we have not heard much from the chairman so a bit of mystery surrounding his fate when it comes to whats happening with the takeover specifically, we have heard the takeover will last for a year starting today in many regards its an unprecedented takeover of a nonstate firm, but because this firm has been in the cross hairs of the government for some time, a few industry insiders said they were not all that surprised. Some people were saying the government has been running the operations since wu xiaohui was detained so this could be sending a message to other big conglomerates. You know the Chinese Government has made a push into financial stabilit stability. Authorities were worried about the insolvency of anbang they were worried about the risks the company had made particularly the waldorf astoria in new york. So the government here is sending a clear message in that regard when it comes to market reaction, the shanghai composite ending higher today on the session. More importantly the firms with specific ties to anbang including those in which anbang has a stake in are taking it in stride a few traders say because there could be fears about a fire sale if this takeover did not go through. So we are seeing some relief in these firms tied to anbang nancy, thank you very much. Nancy mentioned anbangs purchase of the waldorf astoria in new york. Thats interesting when you look at u. S. Regulators blocking the sale of an American Company selling semiconductors to a chinese firm the committee on Foreign Investment in the United States refused to grant permission for the purchase citing concerns that xcerra sells things to chip manufacturers that supplies the u. S. Government. After the u. S. Government stopped the sale of monogram to ant financial also the u. S. Defense department is weighing in on the issue of global trade saying it would prefer targeted tariffs on steel and aluminum instead of blanket in a memo mattis said he would recommend the u. S. Government pause before taking further steps on aluminum. The u. S. Commerce department sittinged new limits on chinese steel, but President Trump said he has not yet made a decision on the matter. The u. S. Commerce secretary yesterday said that the u. S. President is focused on finding a favorable trade balance between america and the European Union. The u. S. Is the least protectionist major country. The eu, if you think of it as one company, because for trade purposes it really is, is one of the most protectionist countries. So anything that changes their favorable trade balance with us gives them a little bit of anxiety. Frankly thats a good thing. Weve been patsies for too long. Weve been suckers for too long. President trump is now trying to pick that. Wilbur ross there talking in washington yesterday also in washington, Robert Mueller filed 32 new charges against Paul Manafort and rick gates. The charges include bank fraud, falsifying tax returns and Money Laundering a spokesman for Paul Manafort said he is innocent and the new charges have nothing do with the Russian Election meddling that mueller is investigating. In the uk, theresa may will unveil her vision for exiting the European Union next week in what will be the culmination of a series of speeches called the road to brexit this after the british Prime Minister held crunch talks with top ministers at her retreat late into the evening last night. The discussions dragged on for eight hours and were intended to iron out differences amongst her jeremy corbyn, could back a rebel conservative move marking a shift in the previously held position he will deliver his own speech on monday and is expected to signal his intent for a softer brexit approach. With the conservative short of a parliamentary majority the move could threaten theresa mays own brexit strategy. Coming up, rbs turns a profit for the first time in over a decade. But investors focus on the disappointing aspect of the fullyear results. Well break down the numbers after the reak your brain is an amazing thing. But as you get older, it naturally begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness, or even trouble with recall. Thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory. The secret is an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. The name to remember. Welcome back to street signs. Pearson reported operating profit of 576 Million Pounds for 2017 coming in at the top end of its guidance the uk publisher is recovering from a series of profit warnings and says it in talks to sell its School Software unit the chief executive said the structural changes being pushed through have left the company on a stronger footing for 2018. Theres been a huge focus on our Higher Education business, which i think everyone knows has been through big structural changes. That is now less than 30 of pearson. We have a good handle on the issues the strategy that we got in place is starting to have an impact the other 70 of pearson will get good Revenue Growth this year, which means big pivotal year, lots to get done but i think were starting to feel confident were starting to build from a Stronger Base shares in rbs are trading lower. Investors have been left disappointed by a miss on fullyear net profit despite it being the first time the bank has been back in the black in over a decade. Rbs failed to give an update on its outstanding misconduct charge with the u. S. Department of justice some estimated the fine could cost the bank as much as 12 billion pounds for more on the british bank and its legacy issues, head to cnbc. Com for more details. Standard Life Aberdeen is selling its european Life Insurance holdings to phoenix. Standard Life Aberdeen up around a percent. The company says the deal marks a transition to a capital wide investment business. Fullyear results showed assets under management grew 1 to 655 billion pounds valeo plunged to the bottom of the stoxx 600 after reporting a fall in profit for the second half of 2017 the French Auto Parts maker saw net income drop 25 in the six months from july to december the ceo told us hes happy with the performance despite being impacted by u. S. Tax reform. Having been impacted by the fiscal reform in the u. S. , which we had to reduce our tax asset excluding that problem, which is not a problem in the longterm because it will reduce significantly our tax level in the u. S. , we have something can growth of our net profit so in all the lines, growth of business, growth of operating margin, growth of net profit excluding the impacted u. S. Tax reform its a very good year that weve had. Shares in iag are down despite the Company Forecasting higher profits this year following 19 growth in 2017 the parent of British Airways reported 3 billion euros in operating profit before exceptional items. Its set to return half a billion euros to shareholders this year, planning a Share Buyback and hiking its fullyear Dividend TelecomItalia Trading higher after reporting it could drop a proposed venture with canal. The decision will be discussed early next month under the terms, Telecom Italia would have paid for content provided by canal. The italian Telecoms Company has also hired Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs to work on the spinoff of its Legacy Network business italian bond yields ahead of the election next sunday, that yield for the twoyear is at 0. 682. The tenyear is at 2. 153 that 30year is at 3. 1610. Some people selling off those bonds right now. We are just over a week away from the italian general election head to our website for a simple guide to the march 4th vote which could help rebalance the political environment in the country or send shockwaves think the european continue innoceent. It also talks about whether we could see a return from former Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi im joined this morning by the head of asset and Wealth Management at barenberg. Lets talk about italy we see some interesting numbers. We talk about Political Uncertainty in germany, doesnt impact the economy but that level of uncertainty in italy, do you think that would have an impact on the Italian Economy . Could have a double whammy after the election, there is also the coalition vote. So on monday morning it could be an interesting market environment. The elections are probably something weve seen before, where we dont get larity, and italy needs reforms. Thats clear spain got it france had it. Germany had it before. Italy is lagging the european landscape after the 5th of march or the 4th of march could be messy again want to talk about market volatility the correction we saw in equities not so long ago has that had real impact op Business Sentiment in europe i doubt it. Its a combination of the volatility and the unclear political landscape. We had a great environment last year, came into the year and now we get some uncertainties. Volatility is something we normally experience in markets i would rather say the environment in the bond market is something which is now concerning some people the rise in bonds, the bond yields in the u. S. Was fast. And thats created volatility on the stock market at the end. So people question themselves where are we going is there a different course in the economic Landscape Capital the Financial Markets are getting pore volatimore vol, and thats making some people concerned. I dont think that will have a longterm effect what are you seeing in terms of the sentiment numbers and what impact that could have . You mean the pmis yeah. It was a big retreat, but nevertheless we are in expansion mode the numbers are very high. So they indicate that the growth in europe an especially germany and others will be strong. Theres a long way to go before we get close to recession. The absolute number is still under 12year highs, so thats not something to get concerned about. We were in a very Good Environment at the end of last year for people trying to make money in this expansion mode, where should they go looking its the old story. The bond markets are not really attractive the equity markets especially in europe, have not performed well over the last 6, 12 months so the valuations are not extended you still cant take risky assets, you have to be prepared that volatility is part of the game lets talk about the labor market in germany. Weve seen unemployment well below 4 at this point we saw that deal struck with the metal workers. Do you get the sense that the tight labor market there could impact the Manufacturing Sector in terms of capacity, in terms of costs it does already you see that certain positions are open, to expachbd tnd the bs is difficult sometimes we have to pay higher wages. We will see that thats part of the concerns which are out there. At one stage higher labor costs will affect margins. It will be tough for the companies to counter that. Its something we have to be prepared inflation is rising. And you see it in these labor numbers or in the wage numbers that over time we are in a different environment. We had a great time before thank you very much for coming in. Coming up on the show, reality bites. Find out how one reality tv star has managed to wipe 1 1. 3 billin of value from snapchat welcome back to street signs. Im willem marx. These are your headlines shares in rbs fall at the open as the british bank posts its first profit in a decade, but it still misses expectations and fails to write down huge legal costs that have long been expected driving even further into the red is valeo the French Auto Parts maker falls 10 as higher costs hit its profits and a charge related to u. S. Tax reforms. Affected by the fiscal reform in the u. S. , which we had to reduce our tax asset, reducing completely our tax level in the u. S. , with Significant Growth of our net profit. Swiss re says it is considering a partnership with softbank after better than expected profits and returning more cash to shareholders. On the basis of our capital position, we feel comfortable that we actually have the ability to return funds to shareholders. Phoenix rising shares trade higher as standard aberdeen sells to Phoenix Holdings for 3. 2 billion pounds. A few hours to the start of trading on wall street a look at u. S. Futures the s p 500, the dow jones, and the nasdaq all looking to open slightly higher. The dow jones with an implied open up 154, 155 points. If we look at the european markets, we can see a mixed picture. The ftse 100 trading down 0. 5 the cac in paris is on the frat line as is the xetra dax in germany and the ftse mib in italy up 0. 3 . Phoenix is in the green after Standard Life aberdeen agreed to sell to the company. And on the down side, shares in rbs selling off after fullyear net profit missed expectations down more than 4. 25 and valeo is at the bottom of the earnings market, down 9. 5 worth looking at the currency markets. We can see the euro is weaker against the u. S. Dollar. The pound is slightly stronger against the dollar the dollar strengthening against the japanese yen and the swiss franc. You may be surprised to hear this but smartphone sales have famine yearonyear for the First Time Ever in the Fourth Quarter of last year data from analyst firm gardner showed a 6 slide in device sales from the year before samsung maintained its number one position in the market with Apple Holding in second. Only chinese firms saw growth in the first quarter. Mobile World Congress is back in barcelona soon, and it kicks off on monday. The biggest and best of the mobile industry will showcase the latest Handheld Technology and discuss the future of communications Arjun Kharpal joins me around the desk and has more on the big themes that will dominate the event. I will run you through some of the big ones. 5g is expected to be a big topic there. This year we are expected to see pretty commercial and commercialized uses of 5g Technology Ai as well will be another big theme. Networks talking about how to use ai to automate networks and smartphone makers talking about the camera recognizing fruit and using it to translate live things all these capabilities thats what the smartphone mix will be talking about. Samsung is expected to launch the galaxy s9 smartphone on sunday you can hardly wait it will be huge well see a slew of Android Devices on the show. Big features, the high end phones, the capabilities of the camera, the ai and augmented reality again expected to make an appearance at the show. Theres plenty to look out for some exciting interviews well bring you the latest next week i want to bring in a frequent guest of street signs, our fellow tech eager lover guru, i should say daniel gleason, i want to ask you about arjun talked about smartphones, these are just incremental improvements at this point, arent they for the most part, yes. Particularly the mid and low range smartphones, its small upgrades from year to year small improvements on processing power, camera performance. Even at the high end, samsungs products will look similar to the galaxy s8 last year, some improvements on the camera so you wont see a dramatic improvement in smartphones at this stage of the cycle. All the big innovations have happened were waiting for the next kind of break in cycle that will change design. 5g could play a factor in that the one thing that samsung is rumored to be working on and that they might be debuting later in the year is a foldable screen that would be a very interesting interesting, but will that make you buy the handset it depends on the implementation thats never been samsungs strong point theyre an Exceptional Engineering company, but when it comes to taking noninvestigations and making them useful theyre not as good as apple apple are excellent at taking innovations and making them a key part of the phone. So Something Like the face id on the new iphone x is excel when samsungs curved edge screen is not really an important feature of how you use the phone its just something thats nice to look at you mentioned 5g. What does 5 g do to the Smartphone Market . Do you see 5g when its eventually implemented, suicide spread across countries, sparking an upgrade cycle to many of these handsets i think that will depend on how the operators sell 5g realistically and how much control they still have over the handset market if you look at the u. S. , smartphone sales and Service Contract sales have become decoupled. So the power of the operators to try to drive that upgrade cycle through their offering plans and trying to use the upgrade cycle phones to drive 5g, thats a lot less thats a big worry were looking at in terms of how 5g will factor out arjun spends a lot of time looking at his phone during the day, that often means he runs out of battery by lunchtime. One of his concerns about 5g is battery life is that going to be a problem . As with new technology, battery will be a concern, particularly in the first generation of handsets theres a lot of we learned a lot from 4g, but still the battery life will be taxing particularly if you wanted to use it heavily arjun, were expecting to see quite a few new handsets from chinese manufacturers. And they may look like phones built elsewhere. I wonder what do they need to do to be successful outside of their home market . Is it about price . Partly price, but also trying to raise Brand Awareness one of the big issues around a company outside of china is band awareness. A lot of these companies have signed huge Sports Marketing deals to raise awareness wawai has done well to grow into group. Its all about brand at the moment if they continue to bring out what are usually very, very good devices at substantially lower price points than apple and samsung, thats where they will find success i think well leave it there. Thank you very much for that arjun, appreciate you being on set. Daniel gleason, thanks for joining me head online to learn more about whats happening at mobile World Congress and well be there next week at the mobile World Congress. Arjun and karen tso will be there to cover the event we will have a range of guests well bring you these and more across those three days. I will have to do a kardashian story reality tv star kylie jenner wiped more than 1 billion off the market cap of snap announcing she was no longer using the social media platform. Snap shares plunged as much as 8 after she tweeted shes so over snapchat. Snap has faced a backlash over the redesign of its top. Citi downgraded the stock and 1 Million People signed a petition saying that the company roll back the update. Evan spiegel doesnt look too concerned about it he earned last year 6 638 million. Regulatory filings show he received a one time stock award of 638 million after that 638 after snap went public and he got another 1 million related to insurance premiums. Arjun, youre desperate to jump in what a world we live in when people are trading on kylie jenner tweets. I heard someone around my age, im a snapchat user, someone said have you seen the new snatch chat updates . I dont watch stories anymore. Thats a real worry. The company may be underestimating the potential impact of this and the backlash against the redesign they said when we bring out redesigns, new apps, it takes time but i cant remember this kind of backlash against an update in a long time. From users. To any company. It speaks of the nature of the platforms and people who use them kylie jenner helped grow the platform, now if she says im not loving it, a lot of her followers will think shes right. On one of the tabs of snapchat, you can look at sponsor stories by big publishers also dj khalid has his own story, and it shows the emphases they do place on individuals to carry the platform so it is a big deal when kylie jenner tweets about the fact she doesnt like the snapchat redesign i think the company is underestimating the impact of this im confident youll bring us the latest on kylie jenner in the days ahead im always here for the kardashian news. Uber will continue to ichb vest invest in east asia. Speaking to cnbc tv 18 in india, khosrowshahi was asked about ichb investment in ola i think softbank is a very big picture investor when i talk to masa about his beliefs, masas core belief is that the ridesharing space is a space that will grow i think softbank is not thinking about ola versus uber. Softbank is thinking about ola and uber versus car ownership. Thats a good bet. Still, from a practical perspective, youre competing with them in a market like india. Softbank clearly putting big money into ola as well, which it is using against uber to compete in a market like india what is the conversation you then have with masa . I view this as were not spending against ola, were spending against car ownership we are actually building mobility as a service. I think our competing with ola, its healthy competition because it forces us to improve product, forces us to be innovative and reduce prices. Ultimately that will come at a cost of car ownership. President trump is again in the news because hes floated the idea of Arming Teachers in a bid to prevent Mass Shootings at schools in the United States speaking at a meeting of state and local officials, mr. Trump said he had spoken to the nra about his ideas. The u. S. President backed a series of new gun controls Hallie Jackson has more on the story from washington, d. C reporter for President Trump, more guns, not fewer, could be what stops students from getting shot if those weapons are in the hands of some teachers we have to harden our schools, not soften them up. A gunfree zone to a killer or somebody that wants to be a killer, thats like going in for the ice cream. Thats like here i am, take me reporter in his Second School safety listening session this week, the president s pushing a controversial concept that certain properly trained educators should be allowed to carry concealed weapons. These are experts these would be people that actually would want them theyre not going to walk into a school if 20 of the teachers have guns. And maybe 10 or maybe 40 and what id recommend doing is the people that do carry, we give them a bonus. We give them a little bit of a bonus. Reporter if 20 of Public School teachers were armed, that would work out to more than 600,000 teachers nationwide. How are schools supposed to pay for bonuses for armed teachers, as the president has suggested i think that if we find the policy solutions that make the most sense, that we can get by and for, then well figure out the rest of these other pieces that you outline. Reporter right now eight states across the country let teachers carry concealed weapons including oklahoma, where this school sign warns people some Staff Members can be armed but the National EducationAssociation Opposes this in parkland, florida, where 17 people were killed last week, Stoneman Douglas teacher greg pitman, who owns a gun but keeps it at home, says he worries about Arming Teachers. I want to educate someones life, not take their life. Reporter the president also wants another significant change raising the age when people can legally buy semiautomatic weapons. Were going to work on getting the age up to 21 instead of 18. Reporter but that pits the president against the powerful National Rifle association which tells nbc news such a move would deprive younger people of their constitutional right to selfprotection. Mr. President , are you willing to go up against the nra on age limits thank you very much i really dont think ill be going up against them. The nra wants to do whats right. Reporter the head of the nra today speaking publicly for the First Time Since the pashrparkld shooting blaming not guns but the fbi, Mental Health issues and School Security failures. Evil walks among us, and god help us if we dont harden our schools and protect our kids lets look ahead of the u. S. Market open at the u. S. Futures. You can see all three of the major indices there looking to open up with the dow jones creeping ever higher in those implied open numbers, up 162 points at this stage jimmys gotten used to his whole room smelling like sweaty odors. Yup, hes gone noseblind. He thinks it smells fine, but his mom smells this. Luckily theres febreze fabric refresher for all the things you cant wash. It finds odors trapped in fabrics and washes them away as it dries. And try pluggable febreze to continuously eliminate odors for up to 45 days of freshness. Pluggable febreze and fabric refresher. Two more ways to breathe happy. Japans key inflation rate was up 0. 9 in january thanks to Higher Energy costs. We go live to tokyo for details. Government figures show the yearonyear change in the core Consumer Price index, which excludes fresh food prices, rose for the 13th consecutive month it had stayed flat for the previous two months. It was due to Higher Energy costs which led to increased electricity fees and gasoline prices the index falls to a mere 0. 4 notable was lower mobile phone fees, a sign that carriers are wary of charging more in fear of losing customers the 2 inflation target has a way to go but energy costs have peaked out and government Officials Say the inflation rate is expected to be flat in the coming months, though the japanese economy is recovering at a moderate pace the data was shrugged off by the stock market as the nikkei bounced back finishing higher. Investors were cheered by the drop in the u. S. Interest rate the day before thats all from the nikkei back to you. Thank you very much just a brief warning that the following videos include some flash photography and strobe lights. In formula one news, orange is the new black for mclaren the team is a Global Partner of cnbc and has unveiled their new mcl 33 car for the upcoming formula one season the car is the first in the 52year history to be powered by renault engines. Zack brown promised f1 fans will see the biggest change the season kicks off march 25th. Despite some wayward shooting, there was a perfect final leg to win the olympic 4x6 biathlon for belarus sweden finished ten seconds behind and the 15yearold from russia is the first to get a gold medal. In the medal stakes, norway and germany have won 13 golds each in the games norway is out in front with 35 medals in total. You can see the netherlands, my personal favorite there, in fifth place behind the u. S bill sweeney, chief executive of the British Olympic Association joins us this morning. Bill, i want to ask you about this we talk about the importance of thesewins for some of these olympic athletes, but its also important for some companies that support them, isnt it yes, it is. Sport is about winning and results, and when you have the companies behind that, its important to deliver on that i want to ask about opportunities for companies. Weve had so Much Negative press around the Olympics Movement, russia, when you see a young 15yearold russian win like that, does that allow that narrative to change . The story around russia has not dominated the games here there is some narrative going on about what will happen in the closing ceremony and who will march. But its a situation that has been taken seriously, when you have evidence of institutionalized doping on that scale, the ioc had to act decisively the Russian National olympic has been pbanned, so it rumbles on, but hopefully well see progress there. What about the role of women in the Olympics Movement . Seems like theres less of a difference between the male athletes that have been placed on a pedestal and huge endorsement deals and women who are seemingly getting parity thats true we talked about this post rio. Ive been in sports for a long time, my personal feelings coming out of rio is that it was the first major global sporting event which felt genderless. From our point of view, there was no difference between the performances of the fee nail athleat female athletes and the male athletes the two icons of the rio games were usain bolt and simone biles. We have the curling women in a semifinal game tonight at the moment 75 of our medals have been won by female athletes so if doesnt feel like theres any bias one question for you traditionally the olympic sponsors have gotten exposure from television. Today thats not always the case digital platforms and social media play an Important Role how have you found those companies that sponsor the olympics try to evolve with that change thats a critical point the major shift again came in rio where a preponderance of coverage came off of mobile devices. From our perspective, all of our commercial partners, they all have requirements for Digital Strategy tied into that. Digital allows you to target your message to the consumer in a much more focused way. You will continue to see that growth in digital is the best way to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the fan base and target consumers bill, thank you very much for joining us lets take a quick look at the u. S. Futures before we go. The dow jones looking to open much more strongly almost up 200 points by the implied open numbers thats it for todays show im willem marx in london. Worldwide exchange is coming up next. A friday rally dow futures are up triple dij jat digits a corruption rackdown. Chinese regulators seize control of one of chinas biggest insurance groups. And rbs shares are down big despite the bank doing something it has not done in a decade. Well tell you what that is in a few moments time its friday, february 23, 2018 Worldwide Exchange begins now