05/01/2017 Asia Business Report

Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.

The Indonesian government has decided it can't bank on its

partnership with JP Morgan Chase. We find out why. And would virtual

reality footwear takeoff? A report from Las Vegas checks out the latest

offering from a Japanese firm. Hello and welcome to Asia Business

Report. The Indonesian government has dropped a number of business

partnerships with the banking giant JP Morgan Chase following the bank's

decision to downgrade its assessment of Indonesia's equities, so could

government decisions like this but the finance sector's ability to give

Frank and fearless advice? Earlier I spoke with our Asia Business Report

bonded Karishma Vaswani and asked her if the move was unprecedented.

In a move can, that is what Indonesia has done with regards to

some of the business partnerships it has with JP Morgan Chase and this

isn't the first time Indonesia has punished the bank for what it

believes are unfair and in the words of some Finance Minister ee

officials there's been a lack of credibility in some of their

assessments, JP Morgan Chase assessments of Indonesia's equities.

But the fact there's been such an outcry from the Indonesian

government, that seems unprecedented. Companies have

complained before about assessments from banks and ratings agencies,

that's normal not to be pleased with the way a bank or ratings agency

assesses you, but to cut off business ties seems like quite a

harsh decision. Should banks be held responsible for influencing

fundamentals and psychology? Those are the words of the Finance

Minister. Yes, she is a well-respected Finance Minister and

the former finance the rector of the World Bank and she gets how this

game is played, she knows investment banks have research arms in their

institutions that often make calls on equities and the economic

fundamentals of a country while advising the country that they are

reporting on. She understands this but some of the words she has used

in her description of the equity situation, or JP Morgan Chase boss

assessment of the equity situation in Indonesia, they have taken many

by surprise. They've talked about the fact JP Morgan Chase a special

partner, a partner with special privileges I should say and that

comes with big responsibilities. Responsibilities that include

creating a positive psychology for the country and I think many people

will be surprised by that. Surprised and could this be the end of

objective and frank opinion from banks in Indonesia? The finance

ministry in Indonesia has been asked this question by the local press and

reportedly they have said if the assessments are credible and make

sense then they will agree with those assessments, and they've said

to local banks and international banks operating in Indonesia,

there's nothing to fear if you say what we think to be true. Karishma

Vaswani speaking to me earlier. Japanese firm tosh either has issued

a recall for 81,000 laptops as the lithium ion battery pack could

overheat posing burn and fire hazards to users. It battery packs

in 41 models sold between June 2011 and November 2016. -- it involves.

Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $95 million to resolve a US government

lawsuit which accuses the bank of using shell companies to pay taxes

in 2000. The settlement revolves around a lawsuit which was filed in

December, 2014. It was aimed at recovering $190 million in taxes,

penalties and interests. Rex Telus, the former Exxon chairman and Chief

Executive chosen by Donald Trump for US Secretary of State will receive

$180 million to cut financial ties with the energy firm. The pay-out

will take place only if he is confirmed in the new role and it's

aimed at addressing concerns the former Exxon executive could favour

the oil giant or his own interests while in office. He left Exxon at

the end of last year. 2016 was a year for wheeling and dealing,

although it was down from record levels, the previous year, there was

still lots more deals going on, more than $2.5 trillion done last year.

In this region China was the standout performer with 798 outbound

acquisitions and there's also been a busy year for Vietnam, Indonesia and

Australia while things have been more subdued in Thailand, Malaysia

and the Philippines. These figures are from a law firm and their

mergers and acquisitions lawyer based in Tokyo Alun Evans is seeing

a different picture for this year. The outstanding story in 2016 was

the China outbound story, more than $200 billion spent overseas by

Chinese companies and that was until December whether Chinese companies

who have the prerogative to do this essentially pressed the pause button

amid concerns about the depreciation of the R and concerns about the

slightly and strategic nature of some of the acquisitions. It will be

interesting going forward to see how long that pause button is pressed

for, probably at least the first quarter and then after that in 2017

we will see a more focused, slightly slower outbound acquisition spree

from China. I think the deals above $10 billion, the mega deals, they

will be heavily scrutinised by authorities and what the authorities

deem to be non- call for buyers, they will also be heavily

scrutinised. If not join then where will we see more action in the

Asia-Pacific region this year? -- if not China. The outbound story will

be strong, $84 billion spent last year, that was mainly in Europe and

in the US with some big acquisitions, Softbank acquiring ARM

in the UK. The fundamentals are there for 2017, low domestic growth,

strong cash position is on the balance street, action and available

debt but will the Japanese spend more money in Southeast Asia? Will

they? What drives them abroad? It is about limited growth at home, isn't

it? It's the domestic market. There's limited growth in Japan at

the moment and we seen this trend developed over the last three or

four years and it will continue to be there in 2017. How will the

mergers and acquisitions landscape shift this year with a change at the

political helm? We are seeing of course a Trump presidency in the US

and concerns about fewer trade deals taking place. Yeah, I think there's

some potential for the US China relationship to develop in 2017.

We've seen some big deals turned down by the National Security

Committee in the US. That may continue where there's Chinese

buyers and therefore Chinese buyers may focus more time and money in

other places, like Southeast Asia. Alun Evans speaking to me earlier.

Have you ever dream of sand between your toes while sitting in the

office? Now a new pair of virtual reality shoes may just be the

ticket, they let the wearer feel textures underfoot and they have

been unveiled by the Japanese gadget maker Sarevo at the consumer

Electronics show in Las Vegas where we tried one ourselves. Here's the

latest virtual reality innovation, virtual reality shoes and walking on

the sand, that is really crunchy, I'm getting vibrations in my seat

that make me feel like I'm moving on sand and metal and if you have ever

shared a virtual reality headset and been worried about hygiene then

maybe these aren't four-year. I'm going to step into a puddle, I'm

going to see what that's like. -- aren't for you. That's quite

convincing for a vibration. Hiro, why would somebody one virtual

reality shoes? They are a great experience, it makes you feel like

you're walking on a narrow bridge and it creaks and it almost gets

broken so it gives a new experience. When you do a new VR experience you

have to wear a headset and you have to have controllers in your hands,

now shoes, isn't it going to be too much gear just for a videogame? We

think this can be for a specific industry to get a better experience.

Like an arcade? Sure. Will somebody want to share the shoes with the

sweaty feet? You can wear socks and you don't have to worry. We don't

think it will be a problem. You can watch that and lots more new gadgets

being unveiled for our CES coverage. You can go to our website.

Let's take a look at the markets in Asia because we are seeing some

reversals, especially for the Nikkei, huge gains on its birthday

in 2017 but it's reversing the trend partly because we are seeing a

weakening of the US dollar. -- first-day. That is unsupportive for

a lot of the exporters but we're seeing gains in Australia, the Hang

Seng in Hong Kong has opened higher and in Australia we are seeing gains

in commodities because of a jump in oil prices overnight. Looking at

Wall Street, it continues to hold onto its games. That's it for this

edition of Asia Business Report. For watching. -- its games. -- thanks

for watching. -- gains. Experts are urging people to learn

lifesaving skills in case they're Some may find images in

Smitha Mundasad's report upsetting.