15/11/2011 World Business Report

time. Europe is putting the pressure on credit ratings agencies.

Now it is time for World Business Report. The headlines: Fighting

back. The EU is set to bring in tough new measures to curb the

influence of credit ratings agencies. Europa is taking

austerity medicine but there are damaging side-effects. In Asia,

Australia's Prime Minister calls for the ban on selling uranium to

India to be overturned. The world's leading credit ratings agencies

could see their powers curbed to today. The EU has been angered by

downgrade some member states and argues that the agency's are too

influential and need to be reined in. It comes after Standard &

Poor's accidentally downgraded France's credit rating. Our

correspondent reports. The EU has never forgiven the Big Three

ratings agencies. Some do not like it, but two of the three biggest

agencies are US-based. Either way, S&P's accidental downgrading of

France's rating, since rescinded, has fuelled market speculation.

TRANSLATION: I believe this will start the discussion again that an

independent European ratings agency should be found dead. That would

give an alternative G the US ratings agencies, which are

dependent on private enterprise. it is not clear what changes are

proposed. The industry should be more open. He wants to see less

reliance over all on ratings in Europe and greater penalties for

misconduct. Those who assess risks on corporate bonds say that a tough

new regime could be counter- productive. Especially if they are

forced to keep swapping the agency they work with. The quality of

information and analysis could well deteriorate. The first incumbent

may only be there for three years. There is limited incentive for them

to do a thorough job knowing they will be out of working a short

period. Change is definitely on the way for ratings agencies. Once

again European leaders are being reminded that such Kurds can have

unintended consequences. BBC News. The balance between austerity and

growth is the heart of the difficulty. Not enough attention on

how countries can grow their way out of trouble by boosting exports

and stimulating demand. From July to September the eurozone grew by

only o.2%. We speak to an economist at i n g. Not the most exciting

news about growth in the eurozone, but good that they are growing,

giving the challenge as a focus at the moment. Tiers de ven the

challenges they face at the moment. The 4th quarter looks very weak. I

think this will be the last positive number before we slip back

into a mild recession. Why is this quarter's strong, especially for

Germany? We saw a technical rebound after a weak second quarter. German

industry was doing very well in July and August. In September there

was a sip of confidence. That was not enough to offset two very good

amounts, July and August. Many argue that the austerity measures

are not stimulating growth, which is what is required. What is your

view on that? Does Mauny to be done to stimulate growth? Right now you

have to make a choice. Either belt- tightening or stimulating growth.

If you look at the high debt numbers in May's European countries,

it is belt-tightening. If you do that together with measures that

can stimulate growth and the medium term that is the right way to go.

You say we will slip back into recession. For how long? It is

difficult to predict. At least one or two quarters. Growth should pick

up in the middle of next year. The global economy should recover and

interest rates should be low. And we will see the first positive

impact from the austerity measures. Thank you for joining us from

Brussels. The Australian Prime Minister has called for the ban on

selling Iranian to India to be overturned. Or Julia Gillard says

it does not make sense to sell nuclear materials to China, India

and Japan but not India. The markets have reacted to this in

Australia. Is this significant? Local media is calling this a major

back said. The ban was introduced in 2008 by a Julia della's her own

Labour Party. India has not signed a non-proliferation Treaty. It

allows countries that are tested weapons before 1967 to legally

possess them, which does not include India. The US has agreed to

work with India on these projects. Julia Gillard's suggestion is to

put Australia on the same page as the US. She described India as a

close trading partner and said that lifting this ban would benefit

Australia economic link, creating jobs and bringing growth. The

annual conference of the Australian Labour Party will be held next

month in Sydney. China Construction Bank say that the Bank of America's

plans to sell its shares will not affect performance. The Bank of

America is planning to reduce its stake. It will sell 10. 4 billion

shares, most of its remaining stake, for over $6 billion. Their chief

executive of Deutsche Bank will end his reign. He has withdrawn his

candidacy to become chairman of the bank. On shares in Tiger Airways

fell today after it warned of a significant loss for the current

financial year. It is suffering suspension of its operations in

Australia. One of its main markets. The markets having a tough session

today. It is the first day of losses for the Asian markets in

three days was they have been riding on the wave of expectation

because they make his new leadership in Greece and Italy.

That was short lived. In Japan there were rumours and speculation

that the Japanese government had intervened again and the currency

market to bring down the strength of the yen. No news to confirm that

has actually happened. Some of the big exporters out of Japan have