13/03/2018 Asia Business Report

A 17-year-old boy has been jailed

for more than ten years

for attacking six moped riders

with acid last July.

Derryck John admitted

carrying out the attacks.

Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore.

Donald Trump blocks takeover bid of

Qualcomm, citing national security

concerns. The leaked report alleges

North Korea is believed to be

evading international sanctions

using Asian companies. Hello,

everyone. And good morning. Glad you

could join us for this Tuesday

edition of Asia Business Report. We

kickoff the programme with breaking

news and over the past hour, US

President Trump has blocked a

takeover bid of computer chips maker

Qualcomm. He has cited national

security concerns about the bid by

its rival, Singapore-based Broadcom.

Timothy McDonald joins us. What has

Broadcom said about this Trump

blocking.

Broadcom has issued a

brief statement that they are

reviewing the order and they

disagreed proposed acquisition of

Qualcomm raises national security

concerns. Qualcomm pointed back to

the order itself and the order said

there is credible evidence that

leaves Donald Trump to believe this

deal might take, the entity that

would emerge might take action and

threaten national security of the

US. The concern seems to be around

five G. The US sees itself in a

dominant position right now and they

think the tie-up between these two

companies could end up with the US

losing that position. Interestingly

enough, Broadcom has been trying to

get around these national security

concerns by moving to the US. It

appears the committee on foreign

investment in the US didn't take to

that too kindly and has suggested

Donald Trump scupper the deal

entirely. It seems like they want to

scupper it, a rearranged deal would

not be acceptable. This may be the

end of it but we will see.

Watch

this space on what will happen next

to Qualcomm. Timothy McDonald. One

of Europe's biggest financial

institutions has criticised the

Trump administration for its tariffs

on steel and aluminium imports. The

head of the European investment bank

said the move would trigger a trade

war with far-reaching consequences.

We are observing this not only with

the threat of a trade war but a

demonstrative department --

departure from multilateral as is a

threat to the economic world order

and if that is at stake, it's not

actually something that promotes

cooperation and peace and prosperity

around the world. David Solomon has

emerged as a favourite to become the

new boss of Godlman sacks. And we

have this exclusive story. A leaked

draft of a United Nations report.

Two Singaporean companies have

violated sanctions against North

Korea. This potentially raises

questions about how common this is

in the rest of the region. The final

report that has been submitted is

expected to be published later this

week. A draft copy of the report has

been seen by the BBC.

This is a shop in Pyongyang is

selling branded watches, handbags

and alcohol. Items which are banned

under UN sanctions and Singapore law

as well but now a leaked UN report

claims there is evidence of at least

one Singaporean company selling

luxury goods in North Korea as

recently as last type -- to lie.

There are two companies named in the

report. But share the same director

and up until late last year they

shared the same address here it is

building. The main allegation

against them in the report that we

have seen is that they received

funds in Singapore for doing

business in North Korea. Both

Singaporean companies deny any

wrongdoing. According to the UN, in

the 1997, Singapore's Dae opened an

account with the North Korean

Daedong credit bank and late to

change the name to T Specialist.

That account was used to transfer

money for goods T Specialist sold in

North Korea to its account in

Singapore. Between 10-- 2011 to 2014

when sanctions had already kicked

in, that account continued to

transfer money into T Specialist's

Singapore account, the draft says.

The companies deny any knowledge,

both in relation to the goods being

sold in North Korea and the funds

coming from that account which the

report alleges. The other main

allegation in the report is that OCN

and T Specialist have long-standing

close ties, including ownership

ties, with a commercial bank that

has been on the sanctions list since

2017.

The companies have denied

this. I would say that our clients

do not have any financial

relationship with these entities in

the DPRK, North Korea, and they also

do not have any interest or any

financial interest or relationship

with this commercial bank that you

have named in the DPRK.

And your

clients ever had any financial

relationship or done business in

North Korea?

They have done business

with North Korean entities

previously before these UN sanctions

came into force. But that was

previously. After the sanctions came

into force, they reduced their

involvement, but this all formed

part of the investigations that are

ongoing.

Many of these transactions

according to the report appeared to

have used Singapore's financial

system. The monetary authority told

the BBC it is working closely with

the UN in these cases. In a

statement, it specifically warned

that banks need to be aware of the

increasing use of multi-

jurisdiction or front companies,

Shell companies, joint ventures and

complex or opaque ownership

structures. Singapore has a

reputation of being one of the most

well regulated financial hubs in the

world so what's troubling is it this

has happened here, how widespread

problem exists in the rest of Asia?

When it has serious issues with

corruption and a lack of oversight.

For many of us, the thought of

senior Counsel law or mental health

professional, a start-up in India

wants to change how we deal with our

emotions during tough periods in our

lives. We report on how a chat robot

is providing some comfort.

It's been

is providing some comfort.

It's been less

is providing some comfort.

It's been less than

is providing some comfort.

It's been less than a

is providing some comfort.

It's been less than a year

is providing some comfort.

It's been less than a year this

is providing some comfort.

It's been less than a year this man

is providing some comfort.

It's been less than a year this man

was laid off from his job in India's

IT sector but the experience left

him feeling angry and sometimes even

depressed. And he found it difficult

to open up to his family. But he did

find some comfort in chatting up.

The difficult thing was not getting

to a state where this happened to me

and that's where I keep call talking

to it. Why do I feel like this

today? The chat robot or chat bot

behaves like a counsellor, focusing

on what users are feeling and how to

respond to them.

So this is what the

future of therapy looks like, an

interface where people can ask

questions and this chat bot will

answer so if I type in question

about, say, losing my job, the codes

in the software process it and give

you options. I'd like to help but

can first to equip check to see how

this is affecting you? Ops Shimon,

yes, sure. Option two, maybe later.

The founders say the chat bot has

200,000 clients who are using this

app for free. The company behind the

chat bot makes money from personal

and users who use the act.

We also

have models were psychiatrists use

Wysa in conjunction with their

practice and they pay us.

Artificial

intelligence -based counselling is a

new field and there isn't a clear

consensus on how effective it is.

There are many things that are

real-life therapist can actually

pick up from what you are talking

which an on line therapist will not

be able to pick up. You are venting

out you crying, feeling sad?

The

pitch, the tone. Figures from the

World Health Organization show

nearly 80 million Indians suffer

from depression and anxiety

disorders and with the accessibility

of mobile phones, Wysa is confident

about serving a market that is very

much in need of counselling in the

digital age.

President Trump has blocked a

takeover bid of