19/11/2013 World Business Report

of his remaining powers. He admitted to smoking crack cocaine and paying

for illegal drugs. For the latest financial news, it is

World Business Report. Moving in with Microsoft. Nokia

shareholders vote on whether the land's biggest company will go into

American hands. `` Finland's. European politicians prepared to

vote on a new EU budget. It could be passed in Strasbourg.

Welcome to World Business Report. Also in the programme: We take a

look at how Asian markets are reacting after new record highs were

hit during the trading session on Wall Street. Burst of all, Nokia

shareholders will vote today on whether to sell the mobile phone

business to Microsoft. The meeting is expected to approve the $7.2

billion sale, but the outgoing chief executive, Stephen Elop, has sparked

a bit of controversy. He is walking away with a $25 million payoff,

despite having persuaded over a sharp fall in the kind `` company's

value and the loss of its position as the world's biggest mobile phone

maker. All of its patents and mapping services will be sold to

Microsoft. How do the shareholders feel about the boat? How do the

Finnish people feel that the country's biggest brand is now being

swallowed up by corporate America? We are joined on the line by Timo

Loyttyniemi, who is director of the Finnish state pension fund. It is

the third biggest Finnish institutional investor in Nokia.

Tell us how you will vote today. We will be present at the extraordinary

meeting today. We will vote in favour of the transaction. We have

analysed the transaction and looked at the material and discussed with

various market analysts. The share price has risen nicely since early

September. We are in favour of the transaction. So you will be voting

yes. It is a significant and very symbolic change for Nokia. Are you

quite sad about the developments of this company, which was once upon a

time the biggest mobile phone maker in the world? There have been a lot

of changes in the industry. The mobile phone industry has existed

only for 20 years. There has been a lot of dynamic change in the

industry. Things go up and down. Your feelings about Stephen Elop as

chief executive. Many are saying that perhaps he should not be

getting the deal that he is getting as he leaves Nokia. I would not

comment on any particular individual part of the deal. We are just dating

that we are in favour of the total deal. `` stating. In terms of the

future for Nokia, it is going to be a very, very different company. Are

you confident it will return some of the shareholder value that you saw

in the past, and we stick with it in the long`term? The share price has

ready doubled since September. It is nearly four times higher now than

1.5 years ago. So the development is in the right direction. We are

waiting for the company to announce a new strategy after the completion

of this transaction. It will be in the first quarter of next year. Timo

Loyttyniemi, thank you for joining me.

When we get a result on the boat, we will let you know. European

Parliament will also be voting for final approval of the EU budget for

the next seven years. It will start from next year. It has been the

subject of months of debate between the European leaders and members of

the European Parliament, who have been given greater powers since the

Lisbon Treaty was signed in 2009. Another EU budget vote, that old

chestnut. But in Strasbourg, with winter touring in, a series of Marys

on budget dispute should be about to end. `` marathon. The EU's financial

framework for the next seven years is about to get final parliamentary

approval. So where is the money going to go? One third of the budget

is dedicated to spending on development in the EU's poorest

regions. Slightly less will be spent on agriculture. It used to be the

biggest budget item by far, the critics want it to be cut further.

Measures to increase competitiveness, take up a much

smaller smite `` slice of the budget. Administration costs account

for only 6% of the total. Those are the same numbers that were agreed

nine months ago by EU leaders at a fractious summit in Brussels. That

means that David Cameron and his allies can still say that the

overall limit on EU spending has gone down in real terms for the

first time ever. But in the corridors of the European

Parliament, they were not happy with the original outcome, and they now

have added powers. There is a catch. In the seven years just ended, tens

of billions of euros of budget money has not actually been spent. It has

been sent back to national coffers. Many MEPs are determined to change

that. They have negotiated more flicks ability to move money from

one year to another, or from one possibly area to another to keep it

in Europe. `` policy area. So spending over the next seven years

could actually rise. For the majority in the Parliament, the case

is compelling. The EU budget is only 1% of gross national product and

there is a lot to do, but critics insist that in difficult days, it

must be smaller. Arguments about money will run and run.

The company that makes Jammie Dodgers has been sold for $556

million to a Canadian pension fund. They also make the much loved wagon

wheel. It will be owned by on curry of teachers pension plan. They have

four manufacturing bases in the UK. `` Ontario.

MF global has been ordered to pay $1.2 billion in restitution to its

customers over its collapse. 1.6 billion of client money went missing

before the firm filed for bankruptcy protection. The commission is also

suing the former head of the firm. Two senior executives of the Swedish

furniture retailer IKEA have been arrested in France as part of an

investigation into allegations the company used illegal surveillance

methods to spy on staff and customers. The Chief Executive

Officer of Ikea France and is chief financial officer have been

questioned by police in Versailles, to Paris.

Its coin, the world's biggest cyber currency, hit a record high. It came

as a US Senate committee hearing discussed the legitimacy of the

virtual currency and how regulation can be developed to manage the space

and avoid it being used for money laundering and drug trafficking. The

currency has gained 4700% in the last year.

Talking of things going up, the US market hit another record during the

trading session. It was all happening on Wall Street. How are

things going in Asia? Not quite as well, as you can imagine. Despite

the gains on Wall Street, we are seeing Asian shares slipping back

from two weak eyes, mainly due to profit`taking after the games

previously made. That was mainly on China's and on a reform plans. ``

economic. It is part of the biggest reform package since the 1990s. They

asked to having a big impact here. Boosting a lot of speculation that

China will achieve more sustainable growth. We saw markets doing

particularly well yesterday. Chinese stocks were up 3%. But they are

taking a bit of a breather now. Hong Kong stocks are up. They are

extending the gains they made on Monday. Hong Kong is where many

Chinese shares are listed. We are seeing the likes of China life

insurance, the nation's biggest insurer, they are rising. It is one

of the companies that could benefit as a result of the new reforms. We

also saw big gains for baby related products companies. It was due to

the relaxing of the one child policy. But they have succumbed to a

bit of profit`taking today. The Japanese stock`market has failed.

The stronger yen puts a dent in the export earnings.

That is all from World Business Report. We will talk you through the

papers in a moment, including more on the market high in the