11/12/2012 World Business Report

the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest financial

Hello and welcome to World Business Report.

Reports say HSBC is facing a record payout to settle allegations of

money laundering. Europe plans a one-stop shop for

inventors in a massive overhaul of the patent system. Shares in

depends power companies are slumping after it there was news

that a nuclear power plant in western Japan could be

decommissioned. British banking giant HSBC is to

pay $1.9 billion dollars to settle allegations of money laundering.

Under what is known as a deferred prosecution agreement, the bank

will be accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act and the Trading

With The Enemy Act. The deal, expected to be announced in New

York later today, would be a record settlement.

The investigation of HSBC stems from accusations that it

transferred billions of dollars on behalf of Iran, our country subject

to American sanctions and that it landed -- laundered money for

Mexican drug cartels. Many may find such they are shocking. One person

is not shocked. He worked in HSBC's complies Department from 2010 until

November, 2011. What was your job at HSBC? My job was to find

suspicious activity, reported, stop it and make sure that the bank was

complying with the bank secrecy Act and the other laws of the US.

much suspicious activity defined? lot. Dee's whether the activity --

the testimony the give or withhold truth? In July, senators chastised

the bank, saying that it was used by drug kingpins to launder money.

Bureau admissions are mistakes were made. I recognise that there were

significant areas of failure. I have said before and I will say

again, despite the best efforts and intentions of many dedicated

professionals, HSBC has fallen short of our expectations and the

expectations of our regulators. These are mistakes that a bank

seeking to conduct business globally and in the US must

acknowledge and move on from. banking giant is expected to pay

$2.5 billion, the largest ever such fine. It is on top of civil

penalties that bring the total to $1.9 billion. That is more than the

Bank is believed to have set aside. HSBC is not the only British bank

to face massive fines. The US authorities also reached a

settlement with Standard Charter's. Even among banks accused of forging

the rules, HSBC stood out. That may be why it is facing such a hefty

penalty. Later today, the European parliament will vote to overhaul

Europe's patent system. At the moment anyone with an idea they

want to protect has to register separately in individual EU

countries, up to 27 times to cover the whole EU. It is complicated and

expensive, so the plan is to introduce one pan-European patent.

Vincent Tillman is a Senior Advisor at Eurochambres. That's the

European-wide body that represents business interests.

You must be pleased to hear this news? Good morning, it is a good

progress. For about ten years, the Chamber of Commerce has been

pressuring policy makers have to find a deal on these issues.

Different consensus has had been looked for the past few years and

now we're close to consensus. It is not perfect because we know that

Spain and Italy and not him but this is an historic win. Why has it

taken so long? Is it just the laborious process of trying to get

Europe to agree on anything? It is the European disease but I suspect

it is the language which is the most difficult to overcome. The

patterned has to be translated in as many languages as there are

countries which want the patents to be protected. The idea is to

simplify the language regime which will actually save a lot of costs

for companies. That is why we're so happy about the agreement. The

agreement is almost there. We have yet to get Spain and Italy to come

on board. How long do you think it will be before it is a law and the

bin used -- utilise the patent system? The objectives of the

European Parliament Office is to provide this by April, 2014. We

still have to have ratification of the international agreement in

November, 2013. This important step is only a step. It is towards the

final agreement. It is a very important step. We will keep an eye

on that as it progresses. In Japan, shares in power companies have

fallen sharply. That's after geologists warned that there may be

an active seismic fault line underneath a nuclear power plant.

This sounds a very worrying. The loss in.

This is in a nuclear facility in western Japan. According to

government guidelines, they may be sitting over an active fault-line.

This is the meeting plate of two or more plates of the Earth's crust.

The plant may be decommissioned. All but two of Japan's nuclear

plants remain off line up for the were shut down after the 2011

crisis. If the nuclear regulation authority, which is a regulatory

body for the facilities, decides that this facility, which had

houses two reactors in the East Coast, is sitting above an active

fault, it is likely to be scrapped. The body is also considering

whether the other atomic power facility which has two reactors and

is also in western Japan, also sits on an active fault. This news is

putting pressure on the stock prices of Japan's electric

facilities. They have slumped more than 6% today. Others have shed

more than 2% in Tokyo trading. Anti-nuclear sentiment is running

high in Japan which used to rely on the technology for approximately

33% of its electricity needs. The US government is selling its

remaining stake in the insurance form. The Treasury owns more than

$7.8 billion worth of shares. They edge she was rescued by the

government in 2008. Since then the government has more than recovered

the 100 AD $2 billion that it is spent on the bail-out. Germany's

biggest steel maker, Thyssen Krupp has posted a loss of more than $6

billion. The massive loss was largely due to the reduced value of

its steel mills in the United States and Brazil. The company is

trying to sell those operations, but offers have been much lower

than the company's official valuation.

Delta Airlines is nearing an agreement to buy the 49% stake in

Virgin Atlantic, currently owned by Singapore Airlines. That's

according to agency reports. If the deal goes ahead Delta and Virgin

are expected to cooperate on transatlantic flights. Chairman of

the Virgin Group, Richard Branson says that whatever happens he will

retain control of the airline he founded.

Policy makers at the US Federal Reserve begin a 2-day meeting today.

They are expected to discuss ways of boosting the US economy.

Economists say the central bank might decide to pump billions more

dollars into the economy with a bond-buying scheme.

It is that meeting at the Federal Reserve for the next few days that

is keeping the market and a holding position. They're not moving