:00:00. > :00:00.into difficulties while swimming. A sixth person has been reported
:00:00. > :00:14.missing. On BBC News, all the latest business news from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:28.Apple Court in the middle of tax row between the and Europe. -- caught.
:00:29. > :00:36.We check out a festival promoting a local brew in North Korea.
:00:37. > :00:43.Good morning, Asia, hello world! It is on Thursday. Glad you could join
:00:44. > :00:50.us today for this addition of Asia Business Report. The challenging
:00:51. > :00:55.over its investigations of tax avoidance by US companies. Apple's
:00:56. > :01:01.arrangements could see the company hit with a massive bill for an pay
:01:02. > :01:06.taxes. In the on an Starbucks are also under investigation. Earlier, I
:01:07. > :01:13.spoke to a North American is a reporter. I asked him why the US is
:01:14. > :01:17.concerned. Companies from the US that set up their bases in Europe
:01:18. > :01:23.are being treated in an fairly. They say the investigations by the
:01:24. > :01:31.European Commission into the so-called sweet deal, there is an
:01:32. > :01:41.investigation whether those were against EU laws. In apple's case,
:01:42. > :01:45.they are being investigated as to whether they were getting a deal
:01:46. > :01:50.that wasn't perhaps offered to other countries. Against EU rules. That is
:01:51. > :01:56.what it is against. The US says there is a bias against these big US
:01:57. > :02:01.companies. What is the European Commission say about it all? They
:02:02. > :02:07.say there is no bias. They say they are trying to do is make sure this
:02:08. > :02:10.perennial problem of tax avoidance amongst big companies isn't
:02:11. > :02:15.happening. They are just try to make sure it is a level playing field
:02:16. > :02:21.across the entire European Union and indeed every company. What will
:02:22. > :02:24.happen next? Is there likely to be a middle ground between the US
:02:25. > :02:30.Treasury and the European Commission or will the European Commission
:02:31. > :02:33.stand its ground? The key indicator of whether it will stand its ground
:02:34. > :02:40.is whether the investigation concludes. We are expecting Apple's
:02:41. > :02:45.fairly soon. If it punishes them then it suggests the European
:02:46. > :02:53.commission is astounding that ground. -- is standing their ground.
:02:54. > :03:02.Shares for HP are lower. The company's revenue is falling in its
:03:03. > :03:10.third-quarter numbers. Revenue from its from its computer business was
:03:11. > :03:17.flat. It was below analysts's estimates. They have slashed about
:03:18. > :03:25.2300 jobs this year. There has been a new target set. The attempt to
:03:26. > :03:35.improve the company's balance it comes as it recorded a drop.
:03:36. > :03:41.Singapore exchange is edging closer to its planned acquisition of
:03:42. > :03:45.London's Baltic exchange. After months of negotiations, the deal is
:03:46. > :03:50.valued at 100 million US dollars but it still needs approval from Baltic
:03:51. > :03:56.shareholders next month. We caught up with a man heading the talks for
:03:57. > :03:58.Singapore exchange and asked him how will the exchange and a set from the
:03:59. > :04:07.takeover? It is an almost at unique position
:04:08. > :04:12.of authority. The price of shipping something from point a to point B.
:04:13. > :04:17.It has a very unique global position in that it is the trusted authority
:04:18. > :04:21.in publishing these numbers every day. Secondly, it has a very special
:04:22. > :04:27.track record in being able to forge global consensus will stop what we
:04:28. > :04:31.want to do is offer people the chance to take action on these
:04:32. > :04:40.numbers. --. . Meaning to make these numbers actionable. From 2008 to
:04:41. > :04:47.2016, freight rates have been one of the most volatile things. Looking
:04:48. > :04:52.back, in hindsight, if more people had a veiled themselves of the
:04:53. > :04:56.option to hedge freight rates, a lot of the global and shipping market
:04:57. > :05:05.would be in better shape. With global shipping in decline, why buy?
:05:06. > :05:11.Many booms and busts have comes. Its relevance is more acute when the
:05:12. > :05:13.marketplace is in need of better information, more accurate
:05:14. > :05:19.information, to work the assets harder. The thing that you as the
:05:20. > :05:24.prices is a period of low prices. During that period, what happens is
:05:25. > :05:28.people manage their asses more efficiently, especially in the face
:05:29. > :05:34.of increasing regulation, pollution, safety, strength. Things like that.
:05:35. > :05:38.Has any of this change because of accident? The underlying rationale
:05:39. > :05:42.hasn't changed because it shipping is global. The people that operate
:05:43. > :05:47.out of London were operating a long time before the EU existed.
:05:48. > :05:57.I've 100 and 20 days, almost 1.5 years, that is how long it takes a
:05:58. > :06:02.shirt companies to discover a data breach in their systems. That
:06:03. > :06:07.compares to the worldwide average of 146 days. How can they improve their
:06:08. > :06:20.response time? I spoke to FireEye. Is remarkable especially to see how
:06:21. > :06:27.it compares to the rest of the world. What kind of data breaches
:06:28. > :06:30.can they do over 17 months question mark they spend a lot of time
:06:31. > :06:38.getting to know the environment. They understand the environment at
:06:39. > :06:47.the victim and it gives them the time to steal the crown Jews in a
:06:48. > :06:55.stealth way. Which are most susceptible? -- crown jewels. We
:06:56. > :06:59.have worked a lot of breaches a cross high-tech, retail and
:07:00. > :07:03.education. Almost every sector. Is not just the small and medium
:07:04. > :07:08.companies but also the big companies and major governments. Why aren't
:07:09. > :07:13.they spending the money to protect themselves? It starts with
:07:14. > :07:16.awareness. It goes back to breach notification. In the US, for the
:07:17. > :07:23.better part of the decade, we have had good breach notification law.
:07:24. > :07:28.They have got to tell the public, they have to tell the public. We
:07:29. > :07:44.don't have these laws in South East Asia. Basically, the consumers can
:07:45. > :07:51.just sue? It can take years of good investment to catch up. Tell us, who
:07:52. > :07:57.are the people behind these data breaches? Are they individuals,
:07:58. > :08:04.organisations, or are they even state-sponsored? We see a locked,
:08:05. > :08:08.all of the above. --A lot. We used to see a lot of Chinese
:08:09. > :08:12.state-sponsored attacks directed at the United States and Europe. In
:08:13. > :08:17.November, the US and China came to an agreement. When we saw the treaty
:08:18. > :08:22.go into effect, we the balance of targeting really shift. Grady
:08:23. > :08:31.Summers from FireEye. Residents in Pyongyang are enjoying
:08:32. > :08:34.a pipe or two in the beer festival. Let's take a look.
:08:35. > :10:00.enjoyed a beer in North Korea. Before we go, quick look at the
:10:01. > :10:06.market. General list lessons in early
:10:07. > :10:22.trading. -- listlessness. Is in negative territory, the All
:10:23. > :10:30.Ordinaries. The major industries also finishing in negative
:10:31. > :10:31.territory. The Dow Jones in the red. I I'm Rico Hizon. Sport Today is
:10:32. > :10:47.coming up next. The top stories is our. It is
:10:48. > :10:48.thought as many as 59 people have