:00:00. > :00:00.the formal exit process, on 29 March.
:00:00. > :00:13.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:26.Drummer in court. The 94-year-old founder of South Korean company
:00:27. > :00:32.challenges charges of corruption. And we will talk about what is going
:00:33. > :00:44.on in Australia's banks, as Westpac faces trial over lending practices.
:00:45. > :00:49.It is a Tuesday, everyone. Glad you could join us for this edition of
:00:50. > :00:52.Asia Business Report, I am Rico Hizon. Another week, another South
:00:53. > :00:59.Korean business leader in court. This time it was the elderly founder
:01:00. > :01:05.of one of the country's largest conglomerates. The 94-year-old is
:01:06. > :01:08.accused of embezzlement and breach of trust. He appeared in court
:01:09. > :01:14.alongside his son and one of his daughters. They also stand accused
:01:15. > :01:19.of embezzling money but save the payments were arranged by their
:01:20. > :01:23.father. At the drama for Lotte doesn't stop in the courtroom. South
:01:24. > :01:28.has filed a complaint over the treatment of Lotte's businesses in
:01:29. > :01:32.China. Nearly 80% of its supermarket there have been closed by
:01:33. > :01:37.authorities. This coincides with a row over the US anti-missile defence
:01:38. > :01:41.system which is being planned in South Korea. Lotte own the land
:01:42. > :01:44.where it is going to be built, so will complaining to the World Trade
:01:45. > :01:49.Organization have any effect? I put the question to a trade expert. It
:01:50. > :01:53.is a little unclear. I think the problem is you are trying to have a
:01:54. > :01:59.discussion about a missile defence system in a trade organisation. That
:02:00. > :02:03.is a little challenging. At the WTO, you have to claim that you violated
:02:04. > :02:07.the WTO agreement, that you violated some measure that was a trade
:02:08. > :02:11.commitment that China made, and I think this is going to be a
:02:12. > :02:16.challenging case, because China is likely to argue that it has closed
:02:17. > :02:21.those department stores, those supermarkets, for violations of
:02:22. > :02:26.electrical wiring, for plumbing, for inspections of some other sort. It
:02:27. > :02:29.could be challenging. It could be challenging, but studying the
:02:30. > :02:34.complaint of the South Koreans against the Chinese, and what the
:02:35. > :02:39.Chinese have done, could this lead to anything? Could there be any
:02:40. > :02:43.loopholes? It is possible. You can argue discrimination is the big
:02:44. > :02:46.challenge. So are you discriminating against South Korean companies? Have
:02:47. > :02:50.you done this with other companies? It is possible. The big issue is
:02:51. > :02:55.whether or not, these services sectors, so retail as a services
:02:56. > :03:00.sector. The Chinese have also clamped down by broadcast on South
:03:01. > :03:04.Korean TV and radio stations. -- clampdown on broadcast. You have to
:03:05. > :03:08.see whether China already agreed to open the sectors. That is where it
:03:09. > :03:15.gets tricky. China in general, like many other services, did not make a
:03:16. > :03:22.lot of pledges to open those up. So they are not violating WTO rules, if
:03:23. > :03:26.you are not violating WTO rules, you can't bring a claim. US President
:03:27. > :03:32.Donald Trump has already brought America out of a deal with Pacific
:03:33. > :03:36.countries, and next minute sites is the North American Free Trade
:03:37. > :03:39.Agreement. Nafta regulate trade between the US, Canada and Mexico
:03:40. > :03:46.and since its introduction exports of US beef have soared. So how will
:03:47. > :03:52.its renegotiation impact ranchers? Our correspondent went to find out.
:03:53. > :04:01.This man is a fifth-generation cattle ranch. My family has been
:04:02. > :04:05.raising capital since 1915, so a little over 100 years. A significant
:04:06. > :04:10.number of his Brahman cattle and are being sold abroad, including just
:04:11. > :04:14.south of the border in Mexico. We have been dealing in international
:04:15. > :04:18.trade since 1933 wins on when we first exported cattle to Australia.
:04:19. > :04:24.City export market is important to you. Export market is very important
:04:25. > :04:31.to our organisation. Some years we have seen our international sales be
:04:32. > :04:34.85% of all the business that we did that year. In the North American
:04:35. > :04:39.Free Trade Agreement is really important for those exports. It
:04:40. > :04:44.allows his beef to enter Mexico duty-free. So any changes could hurt
:04:45. > :04:47.him and other American cattle ranchers. Donald Trump enjoyed
:04:48. > :04:52.strong support in rural communities like this one, as well as the
:04:53. > :04:55.rustbelt. Now the challenge is, can he come up with a trade policy that
:04:56. > :05:04.can help both manufacturing and farming? In the state capital,
:05:05. > :05:07.Boston, the Texas agricultural commissioner called for calm. Syd
:05:08. > :05:13.Millar was part of the Trump campaign's advisory Council --
:05:14. > :05:17.Austin. Like the President, he believes changing Nafta is a good
:05:18. > :05:21.thing, even if it shakes things up. I predicted that. I said when this
:05:22. > :05:25.president takes office it will be a rocky start. He will upset people,
:05:26. > :05:29.it will rock the boat, we will renegotiate deals, and people who
:05:30. > :05:32.have a sweet deal are not going to want to renegotiate. A honeymoon
:05:33. > :05:38.with the cattle industry isn't over yet, but is it starting to fray?
:05:39. > :05:41.According to this cattle dealer, Trump's decision to walk away from
:05:42. > :05:48.the transpacific partnership, a trade pact with Asia, meant lost
:05:49. > :05:53.dollars four ranchers. You can qualify TPP today, so what could be
:05:54. > :05:57.going to those countries today is about $400,000 worth of beef that
:05:58. > :06:02.would be going, that is not today. So that is a quantifiable number.
:06:03. > :06:07.Ranchers fear they may end up a casualty of Donald Trump's trade
:06:08. > :06:15.policy. They are hoping his tough stance on Nafta is just an opening
:06:16. > :06:21.negotiating tactic. Well, Brexit is also full of unknowns, but we now
:06:22. > :06:27.have one certainty, which is a date, and that is on the 28th of March,
:06:28. > :06:30.which is next Wednesday. The British Prime Minister officially notified
:06:31. > :06:35.the EU that the UK is leaving the union. Let's hear what Theresa May
:06:36. > :06:39.had to say. When people voted in the referendum last year, it wasn't just
:06:40. > :06:43.about leaving the European Union, I think they voted for change. They
:06:44. > :06:46.voted for a change in the way the country works, to make sure it works
:06:47. > :06:51.for everyone, not just a privileged few. And as part of that, we want to
:06:52. > :06:55.build, we have a plan for Britain and part of that is about building a
:06:56. > :06:59.stronger economy. Theresa May that, the UK's prime minister. In other
:07:00. > :07:04.business newsmaking headlines, Microsoft's founder, Bill Gates, has
:07:05. > :07:08.again topped the Forbes list of the world's richest people, whose
:07:09. > :07:13.fortune rising from a whopping $85 billion of US. Next on the list,
:07:14. > :07:19.investor Warren Buffett. It was bad news for US President Donald Trump,
:07:20. > :07:24.with his $3.5 billion, he slipped 220 spots to 544. The
:07:25. > :07:29.telecommunications landscape in India is changing dramatically after
:07:30. > :07:39.two big mergers. British mobile phone giant Vodafone is joining Idea
:07:40. > :07:44.cellular. Our correspondent in Mumbai explains why these companies
:07:45. > :07:48.are rushing to get bigger. It was a merger month in the making and was
:07:49. > :07:53.expected to be announced but a lot of fanfare. But in the end it turned
:07:54. > :07:56.out to be very low key, with even camera is not allowed inside this
:07:57. > :08:01.hotel where the press conference was held to reveal the details of the
:08:02. > :08:05.deal. Vodafone India and Idea Cellular have agreed on the terms of
:08:06. > :08:09.their marriage, but their real work for the telecom operators starts
:08:10. > :08:14.now. It will take around 24 months for the companies to fully combined,
:08:15. > :08:19.and there are still a number of issues to iron out. We do know that
:08:20. > :08:23.Idea Cellular's boss will be the chairman of the new entity, but it
:08:24. > :08:28.is still not clear who will be the chief executive, and perhaps more
:08:29. > :08:33.crucially, there were no details on what the new brand will be called,
:08:34. > :08:37.or what it will look like. Vodafone and Idea are two of the most
:08:38. > :08:40.distinctive brands in the country so finding it compromises that speaks
:08:41. > :08:45.to its customer base will be a challenge. Job cuts are also on the
:08:46. > :08:50.cards, with both firms aligning operations to cut costs. That said,
:08:51. > :08:55.the merger could mean good news for customers. By joining forces,
:08:56. > :09:02.Vodafone and Idea will be well placed to slash prices. The launch
:09:03. > :09:06.of Jio 4G last year, owned by India's richest man, shook up the
:09:07. > :09:11.telecoms market. The company is offering free voice calls for life
:09:12. > :09:20.and internet data at dirt cheap prices. With 300 million people
:09:21. > :09:24.expected to start using smartphones in the next three years, competition
:09:25. > :09:29.is only just starting. Australia's fourth biggest bank, Westpac goes to
:09:30. > :09:33.court to defend its lending practices. The companies regulator
:09:34. > :09:38.suggests Westpac was approving home loans based on calculation is that
:09:39. > :09:45.were not realistic. I asked Peter Ryan from ABC News in Sydney how
:09:46. > :09:48.serious these charges. They are all very serious, and this goes to the
:09:49. > :09:53.reputation of Westpac, which is Australia's second-biggest bank by
:09:54. > :09:56.market capitalisation, and it really flows into the overall distaste
:09:57. > :10:02.about banks in Australia at the moment in this federal court
:10:03. > :10:09.hearing. Westpac is accused of not using proper lending practices in
:10:10. > :10:14.giving out loans between 2011 and 2015. As you said in your
:10:15. > :10:18.introduction, not ensuring that people would be able to repay their
:10:19. > :10:24.loans. In the backdrop, all of Australia's big four banks are in
:10:25. > :10:27.the frame, with the securities regulators, and on the national
:10:28. > :10:31.political scene there is growing pressure for a royal commission into
:10:32. > :10:36.the behaviour of Australia's major banks. Peter Ryan from ABC News.
:10:37. > :10:43.With that we end this edition of Asia Business Report. Have a great
:10:44. > :10:44.day, everyone. I am Rico Hizon.