12/05/2016 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News, with Ben Thompson

Clamping down on corruption - the UK Prime Minister vows to get

tough but after describing Nigeria and Afghanistan as fantastically

corrupt, can anything really be achieved?

Live from London, that's our top story on Thursday the 12th of May.

World leaders gather in London to tackle global corruption

including measures measures to crackdown on money

laundering through UK property and offshore tax havens.

We'll assess what might be achieved.

Also in the programme, troubled Mitsubishi Motors announces

We'll head to our Asia Business Hub for the latest on the deal

the Nissan Boss describes as 'win win'.

That story helped to boost markets in Japan but it was pretty sluggish

stateside. In Europe, all eyes on the latest inflation report from the

Bank of England. And what is in a name? We will meet the fashion

retailer, Nick Ashley, the son of Welsh fashion designer, Laura

Ashley. But is family heritage a help or a hindrance when it comes to

business? And arthritic elevator 's and Arctic air-conditioning topped

the list of office grapes in the Middle East. Today, we want to know

what is the one thing you'd change about workplace? And you can't say

your boss! Are you sure it is only one thing? I

have a holistic things here. Welcome to the programme,

we're starting right here in London today,

where tackling corruption is top of the agenda,

not least because the UK Prime Minister David Cameron

was recorded calling Nigeria and But today it's the anti-corruption

summit itself that hopes The UK will examine its role

in international corruption often seen as a destination

for money laundering territories, which include some

of the world's big tax havens. Figures this week from leading

economists claim $170 billion a year are lost through tax dodging,

and it's the poorest countries Much of this money is channelled

into British overseas territories - More than a third of the world's tax

havens are British. Then there is London's

property market. An estimated 36,000 homes

in the capital are owned That is almost 1 in 10

properties - just over 9% - in the City of Westminster,

and almost as many in Here's what the Prime Minister had

to say when he was questioned the Prime Minister Revie appeals

from Nigerian campaigners, who say our efforts are sadly undermined if

countries such as your own are welcoming our corrupt to hide their

ill gotten gains in your department stores, homes, car dealerships and

anywhere else that will accept their cash with no questions asked. One of

the steps we are taking to make sure foreign companies that own UK

property have to declare who the beneficial owner is will be one of

the ways we make sure that plundered money from African countries can't

be hidden in London. With me is Chido Dunn from

the pressure group, Global Witness. Welcome to the programme, the

British Prime Minister has called corruption the cancer at the heart

of so many of our problems. If corruption is the cancer, what is

the treatment? What we have seen as part of that treatment happening

today, the world is turning towards transparency but the UK's tax havens

are being left behind. So we are seeing some very positive steps from

the UK in relation to property and the dirty and corrupt money used to

buy it. There are some solutions but not all of them are being achieved.

I know you have been very active in campaigning around the property

issue, and trying to work out who owns what. What impact do you think

that will have on people already owning property held through these

offshore companies, and what impact do you think it might have on future

investment? We really welcome the fact the primaries to is announcing

the fact that the measures he is introducing will apply to offshore

companies that already owned property, because ?170 billion is

currently owned offshore, and based on our research and that of other

organisations, some of that money is definitely the result of corruption

or other proceeds of crime. The result it will have on the UK

economy will be positive mostly. We have the head of the crime agency

saying it will affect house prices. It will deter some investment, but

it will keep dirty money out and help people who deserve to own homes

here to buy them. There are a lot of people coming to this, financiers,

world leaders, lots of campaigners as well. Crucially, the Panamanian

government did not get an invitation, after the Panama Papers,

and what we found out from them, and also we did not hear from the

British Virgin Islands. The tax havens are not at this summit. What

kind of message does this send? The tax havens are the key to this

corruption problem. As you said, it is a real worry that they haven't

engaged in the process of the summit. The primer Nistor has

expressed his displeasure at the fact that the British Virgin Islands

did not come to the table and enter the sort of agreement he asked for.

We would say that it is so important that the tax savings are part of the

solution, but they will only really be able to participate if they come

and willing to make meaningful changes to their business practices.

It is worth stating that not every offshore company is hiding dirty

money. There are very legitimately is and why you would use these

structures. Absolutely, we are not advocating the end of all corporate

structures, it is just secrecy. The use of secrecy to hide identities is

being used for nefarious reasons by tax evaders and criminals. But the

use of offshore vehicles for tax planning or inheritance planning is

financial continue to happen. Chido, thank you for coming in.

In other news, Google has announced plans to ban adverts

from so-called payday lenders, in a move the company

hopes will limit what it calls "a harmful industry".

The search giant plans to stop allowing ads for loans due within 60

days, or with an interest rate of 36% or higher.

Many payday lenders rely on internet searches to generate customers.

The likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump wants

to protect US manufacturing jobs by imposing tariffs

He's suggested tariffs of 45% on imported Chinese goods and 35%

But trade experts say that would be likely to spark similar moves

from other trading partners and damage global trade.

German sportswear firm Adidas has said it is ending its sponsorship

of English football club Chelsea six years early.

Adidas, which has sponsored Chelsea since 2006, said it had reached

a mutual agreement to end the deal on 30 June 2017 instead of 2023.

The club will have to pay Adidas tens of millions

of euros in compensation, but is free to sign a new sponsor.

Let's take you to Asia, where the Japanese car makers

Mitsubishi and Nissan have confirmed they're in talks over

In the last half an hour, the Nissan chief said the company would be

taking a 34% stake in Mitsubishi motors, which has been plagued by

the emissions scandal. Sharanjit Leyl is in our

Asia Business Hub in Singapore. Sharanjit, how significant

could this deal be Mitsubishi caught up in that

emissions data scandal. But the boss of Nissan says this is a win-win

deal. That's right. In fact, they have just been meeting at this press

conference in the last half an hour. The deal is apparently worth $2.2

billion, and as you say, 34% is the amount that has been suggested. The

two chairman essentially in a joint press conference, and Mr Goh and

describing it as win-win. Analysts saying that a deal would make sense

for both, to help Mitsubishi motors, which has been dogged by a scandal,

as well as Nissan, trying to boost its presence in the small car

market. The inaccurate tests were flagged up by

Nissan's own test produced for it by Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi shares were not trading for much of the day but they have

closed up the 16% daily limit, while Nissan's shares have sunk about

1.4%. We know Mitsubishi's market value has fallen massively since the

scandal first broke. That deal is, we are told, now done. The McKay is

rising today. Investors have been spoken -- focusing on that story --

the Nicky clear macro we have heard from the force of

the boss of Nissan this morning. It is worth noting, despite all of that

talk of falling prices, oil has been the best performing asset, up by

about a quarter so far this year. A quick look at how Europe is faring,

remembered today we get the latest quarterly inflation report from the

Bank of England. We will discuss that in a little more detail in a

moment, but let's head stateside and find out what is happening on Wall

Street. It seems the bad news from American retailers will continue. On

Wednesday, Macey said its revenue fell by more than 7% and may have

cut their outlook from the full year. Up next, Nordstrom. It has

been struggling with weak sales over the last year and the unseasonable

weather will not help matters. Many are expecting profits to take a hit.

Ralph Lauren will also be reporting a loss, and while they are plagued

with some of the same problems, some fashion missteps will mean profits

will likely fall for the quarter. The bigger question is what does

this mean for the wider retail industry? These results do have

people worrying about how much consumers will spend going forward.

Despite lower gas prices and a recovering labour market, Americans

are not opening their wallets. Joining us is Jane Sydenham,

investment director Welcome to the programme. Today will

be a big day for the bank of England. The last so-called Super

Thursday ahead of the EU referendum vote. What do you think we are

likely to hear? Reduced growth forecasts. Growth has been reducing

a little bit, partly because there is a bit of worry about the EU

referendum, partly because of slowing growth in China, but

interestingly inflation has turned positive, because oil prices, as you

said, have stopped falling, and actually wages are beginning to rise

because employment is relatively faux. That -- relatively full. Mark

Carney has already sent some signals that the bank is prepared to support

the economy if we were to Brexit, which might push down sterling,

might cause a bit of break of confidence in the short-term. He is

likely to reinforce that message, I think. Growth forecast down on one

hand, inflation forecasts up on the other. What does that tell us about

the state of the economy? It is easy to get caught up in these individual

reports, what is the bigger picture? We are still growing, that is a good

thing. Inflation is positive now, markets were getting very worried

about falling prices, which is really a very negative signal, so we

are into positive territory, seeing some growth but relatively slow.

Quite modest, and I think from that perspective interest rates are not

likely to rise soon. Markets are forecasting rates would rise

Still to come: Does having family heritage in an industry make

We'll be talking to Nick Ashley, the son of Welsh fashion

You're with Business Live from BBC News.

The phone and broadband provider TalkTalk has said the cyber attack

which hit the firm last October has cost over ?40 million and put a dent

Mark Turner is a cyber security expert who's been

He joins us from our Salford newsroom.

it was feared to be a huge leak of data. It actually didn't turn out to

be quite as bad as they feared? Back in October, there was a breach of

TalkTalk's network. Initially, they came out and said it could have been

4 million customers. The subsequent days after that, they came back to

the media and said actually it was 157,000 users whose details had been

compromised, and about 15,000 users whose bank account details had been

leaked. Some of the comments we have been hearing from Dido Harding, the

chief exec, she said customers she thinks has really appreciated the

way TalkTalk has handled the fallout, and actually the customer

chair number, the turnover is actually the lowest in the company's

history. So presumably they are doing something right? The chair

number is an interesting number, because if you wanted to leave

someone like TalkTalk, or any internet or broadband provider, if

you decide to do that because they have had a security breach, you need

to look at your terms and conditions, and they will probably

say you can't leave within the contract period, 12 months, 18

months, 24 months. I'm sure there are people who would like to leave

TalkTalk because of the way they have handled their client data, but

don't because of the fear of a penalty. TalkTalk did say the only

people they would let leave without a penalty were people whose bank

account details had been compromised, and quite frankly that

is not good enough. If my data had been held with any organisation that

had been compromised, I feel I should have the right to vote

with my feet and take my business elsewhere.

Lots of other stories for you this morning. We can't fit them all in on

the programme, but they are on the website. ITV reports a 14% rise in

quarterly sales. That's always a good indication of how the

advertising market is doing. It also said it boosted acquisitions last

year, part of its business strategy. You're watching Business

Live - our top story, global leaders are gathering

in London today to discuss measures It's in a bid to crackdown

on money laundering, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has

announced that foreign firms will have to declare ownership

of any UK property on a register. It has been a rather embarrassingly

for the Prime Minister, who was recorded describing two countries as

fantastically correct. He will be hoping to be in headlines for

reasons today. Now, does having family heritage

in an industry make you more likely Do family connections

help or hinder? Nick Ashley is the co-founder

and creative director at Private White -

it's a luxury men's fashion firm, He's the son of Laura Ashley,

the Welsh fashion designer Her floral prints became

famous around the world. An avid motorcyclist,

his clothing line has a distinctively military style -

reflecting the man the company I'm pleased to say that he joins us

now in the studio. Nice to see you. This is an interesting one. We talk

about family connections on the programme a lot and whether they

help or hinder. In your case, you have discussed this before about

whether a recognisable name, a well-known name in the fashion

business, for you, has been a good thing or a hindrance? It is a

question of choice. I chose to make it an advantage. They say that you

either emulate your parents or you rebel against them. I have emulated

my mother, she was a designer, I am a designer. I have rebelled against

my father, he was a businessman, do not trust me with your money! That

is quite worrying, you are running a company. Both of your parents are

very strong people, they had a real eye when it came to costs. You are

saying you grew up in a tent, pretty much? My parents, they started their

business, they came out of the Second World War, they were trained

in living under canvas, but they didn't have any money. They wanted

to start a business. All of the money they had, they put into a

factory, they brought us up in a tent, next to the factory, just to

save on costs. We did eventually move into a rented caravan. We

traded up to trailer trash. I'm interested in that point about

emulating your mother but rebelling against your father. How does that

manifest itself in the way you go about business? What you do

differently to your peers? I don't attempt to do any business. I work

with James and Mike, the other guys, it is their business, Private White,

I just do the design element. I'm not interested in business. I'm

interested in people. My father always said we are in the people

business, it is all about people. I heard, for someone who has described

themselves as an introspective and quite quiet character, you were

almost the drummer for The Clash, is that true? They say you should only

regret the things you haven't done in life. This is one regret. I had

only just come in the 70s, gone into Saint Martin's School of fashion. I

was very proud of that. Jo -- Joe Strummer asked me to be in his band,

but I didn't do it. And you didn't know how to play the drums? Said, I

can't play, he said, it doesn't matter, you look right, we will

teach you. All couldn't really play the bass and work for him. -- Paul.

I saw the bass guitarist last year. I said, could I have pulled that

off, being the drummer? You said, no, the drama really has to pull it

together, so I can relax. You said it was about your look, and it is

very punk, and that is the way you have taken the fashion line as well.

Has that influenced the way you took the business? We all went through

that punk period, I wasn't actually punt, I was more rocker because of

the biking thing. It is more of an attitude, the punk thing. It is a

kind of not giving a beep about anything. I take that through now, I

am a very laid-back character. It is certainly working for your business.

Thank you for coming in. Really interesting to hear more about your

background and how the business is faring.

We're going to turn our attention to Brazil. Senators are debating on

whether to proceed with the impeachment proceedings against

Dilma Rousseff. They have said they want to vote in favour of the move.

Any potential suspension would last for six months

while her impeachment trial takes place.

Camilla Costa has been following the story from Sao Paulo.

Brazil is going through one of its worst recessions in decades.

President Dilma Rousseff is largely blamed for that, even though she has

not herself been accused of corruption or of benefiting from

corruption schemes. She has been blamed for what some say are bad

economic decisions that may have deepened the Brazilian crisis. Many

Brazilians want her out, most of the country. But many are also wondering

what might come next, given the fact that many politicians, in the line

of succession, even, have been implicated on corruption charges.

The Vice President has been implicated in some corruption

allegations. The former President of the lower house of Congress, and the

leader of the Senate, they have also been charged or heavily implicated

in corruption allegations. For many Brazilians, and we do have to bear

in mind that Brazilians, historically, have not had much

faith in politicians, now they are really trying to think about what

exactly and where exactly is a new government going to take us?

Jane Sydenham, investment director at Rathbones Investment

Big news yesterday afternoon, Three has refused to give up on the 02

merger, in spite of the fact that the European regulator has said no?

The deal went through as planned, it would be 40% of the market, I can

understand why the regulator is intervening. Equally, I understand

why they don't want to give up on it, it is a tremendous opportunity

to consolidate the market, from a marketing perspective, they would

have reached so many more customers. I can see why they might try to find

a way through. It interesting, on one hand, you might say the more

power one firm has, it could have an impact on prices and investment. On

the other hand, the bigger the company, the more money it has to

throughout investment, it can use economies of scale to make the

market better. It's a fine balance. There was a lot of criticism that

the regulator didn't necessarily get it right in this case? I think that

is right, should be four competitors or three? What is considered a

market, is it Europe, Western Europe? It is what you consider to

be the market and how money players are in it. Clearly, the current

regulator is moving towards more competitors. There is obviously a

worry. There is some evidence from European markets, where there has

been a lot of consolidation, that pricing has not come down at the

rate it should have done after that has taken place. It is complicated,

as you say, but I think there is more evidence that pricing does not

fall with insufficient numbers of competitors. I think that seems to

be the trend for the time being. Moving on, another story that is in

a golf paper, The National. Apparently cold air con and

arthritic lifts are the main complaints in the Middle East. What

is yours? We have very loud hand dryers in the Lady's toilets. Mice

is the biggest problem here! I filmed one, I was about six feet

from one this morning. One viewer wants to change the colour of the

office, another says she wants to change the manager. Proper heating,

a decent staff room, somebody says. One suggests they would burn down

their office, not recommended! Thank you for your time. Thanks for your

company, full update on the website and across the BBC today. See you

soon.