:00:00. > :00:00.This is Business Live from BBC News with Aaron Heslehurst and
:00:07. > :00:12.Crypto currency crackdown - could Bitcoin become a victim
:00:13. > :00:37.Live from London, that's our top story on 20th November.
:00:38. > :00:40.One week on from an attack that rocked a nation - Ministers will
:00:41. > :00:43.meet in Brussels today to discuss what they can do to tackle terror
:00:44. > :00:48.Also in the programme....
:00:49. > :00:51.A diamond nearly the size of a tennis ball has been found
:00:52. > :00:57.in Botswana - the second-biggest ever unearthed.
:00:58. > :01:02.And all eyes will be on the ECB President Mario Draghi and his
:01:03. > :01:08.thoughts on the prospects of a Eurozone recovery. It is all go in
:01:09. > :01:10.the studio! With three billion barrels
:01:11. > :01:12.of oil now sitting in storage and the price falling to record lows
:01:13. > :01:16.this week - we look at how long the industry can go on producing more of
:01:17. > :01:19.the black stuff than anyone needs. So now Facebook says
:01:20. > :01:27.its trialing new tools to make it less painful when you break up with
:01:28. > :01:30.someone by altering what you can see of them, but without them knowing
:01:31. > :01:34.you've done anything. If you've broken up do you
:01:35. > :01:41.care what your partner does? We start with the virtual currency
:01:42. > :01:59.bitcoin - we are asking whether it could become a victim
:02:00. > :02:02.of the fight against terrorism. Later today EU interior
:02:03. > :02:05.and justice ministers will meet to discuss how to combat the militant
:02:06. > :02:08.group IS and the way it's financed. According to reports -
:02:09. > :02:10.they are planning a crackdown on virtual currencies
:02:11. > :02:12.and anonymous payment methods, the Users can buy bitcoins at
:02:13. > :02:16.exchanges using Once purchased,
:02:17. > :02:20.the bitcoins can then be transferred online to other users quickly and
:02:21. > :02:23.anonymously - without verification That has made them attractive to
:02:24. > :02:34.users ranging from drug dealers to those trying to get around capital
:02:35. > :02:38.controls in Greece or China. Jonathan Levin,
:02:39. > :02:43.Co-Founder of Chainalysis. It provides anti money laundering
:02:44. > :02:55.software for digital currencies. Great to have you in the studio, do
:02:56. > :02:59.we have any evidence that so-called Isis and other terror organisations
:03:00. > :03:04.are using bitcoins to fund activities? We have no evidence so
:03:05. > :03:08.far that bitcoins have been used to fund any incidents relating to last
:03:09. > :03:15.week. We do have evidence that there have been bitcoin routing numbers
:03:16. > :03:19.posted on the Internet to raise funding from the crowd, but none of
:03:20. > :03:25.them have had significant funding today. I was reading this late
:03:26. > :03:29.afternoon yesterday, saying that the EU would sit together at this
:03:30. > :03:34.emergency meeting and I was wondering, I can't imagine Isis are
:03:35. > :03:38.using bitcoins and buying weapons that way, cash is king. Some would
:03:39. > :03:44.say that cash is what we have to keep an eye on and could be the
:03:45. > :03:46.issue? The UK Government put out a report last month on
:03:47. > :03:50.money-laundering risks and terror financing risks of different
:03:51. > :03:55.systems. Banks come on top of that with cash as well rating highly.
:03:56. > :04:00.Digital currencies were at the bottom of the risk factor. That is
:04:01. > :04:08.due to liquidity but also slightly to do with how trace of bitcoin is.
:04:09. > :04:14.Arab business is predicated on tracing bitcoins from different
:04:15. > :04:18.service providers. -- our business. We are talking about prepaid credit
:04:19. > :04:25.cards and gold and different many services that are going to be looked
:04:26. > :04:28.at in terms of regulation. It is important to read past the headline,
:04:29. > :04:37.the clamp-down is to do with the EU putting out guidelines regarding
:04:38. > :04:40.KYC, know your customer requirements. They rely on banking
:04:41. > :04:47.infrastructure. It is about record-keeping and enhancing their
:04:48. > :04:52.effective controls that these money servicing businesses have to do. If
:04:53. > :04:56.it is a collective agreement can the EU working with banks to put some
:04:57. > :05:01.sort of control on all of this? In the US they have very good
:05:02. > :05:05.legislation which digital currency businesses have to register with the
:05:06. > :05:09.regulator. It is a very collaborative relationship with
:05:10. > :05:15.Loren Portman and regulators and digital currency businesses. -- law
:05:16. > :05:19.enforcement. It has to be a balance of knowing your customer
:05:20. > :05:23.requirements and also not driving it underground which could be the case
:05:24. > :05:32.if you overreact. We appreciate you coming in. Have a great weekend. We
:05:33. > :05:34.appreciate that. Thanks very much. In other news...
:05:35. > :05:37.The Dutch government is expected to raise around 4 billion euros this
:05:38. > :05:42.Friday with the flotation of a 23 per cent stake in ABN Amro.
:05:43. > :05:44.It's the biggest initial public offering of a European bank
:05:45. > :05:49.since the financial crisis - and investor interest has been strong.
:05:50. > :05:55.ABN was bailed out in 2008 at a cost of 22 billion euros -
:05:56. > :05:58.Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has admitted the Dutch taxpayer is
:05:59. > :06:07.unlikely to get the full amount back.
:06:08. > :06:09.Shares of mobile payments company Square surged on their Wall Street
:06:10. > :06:14.The flotation had been heavily discounted
:06:15. > :06:18.amid market concerns over the high valuations of tech startups.
:06:19. > :06:21.It was a welcome birthday present for its founder, Twitter CEO Jack
:06:22. > :06:33.He's still the largest shareholder in Square - his 21 per cent stake is
:06:34. > :06:42.Volkswagen has until today to tell US regulators how it plans to fix
:06:43. > :06:45.almost half a million diesel cars sold in the US that are involved
:06:46. > :06:52.Experts say it will have to fit most of them with either new exhaust
:06:53. > :06:55.systems or chemical treatment devices - both likely to be very
:06:56. > :06:58.expensive - and it may prove cheaper to simply buy back older models
:06:59. > :07:06.Let's take a look round the world at what's business stories are
:07:07. > :07:19.Check out the site. It's a great site. It's a cracker! A hefty fine
:07:20. > :07:28.for the South African mobile operator. $5.2 billion. Greece
:07:29. > :07:32.passes the bailout bill. That of course paves the way for the state
:07:33. > :07:36.to be able to pay its debts and recapitalise the banks. This has
:07:37. > :07:41.been the big issue for Greece, the banking system, making sure they
:07:42. > :07:44.have enough liquidity. Only in recent weeks there have been lots of
:07:45. > :07:50.austerity protests going on in Greece at the moment. More protests
:07:51. > :07:55.on the streets. It looks as though they will get their next chunk of
:07:56. > :08:00.money and importantly money for the banks. Let's take a look at some of
:08:01. > :08:02.the other stories and go straight over to Asia. Here is a cracking
:08:03. > :08:06.story, Charlotte is in Singapore. Regulators
:08:07. > :08:07.in Australia have scuppered a vast land sale that would have
:08:08. > :08:12.been the country's biggest ever. Kidman and Company operates ten
:08:13. > :08:18.cattle ranches over 101,000 square kilometers - an area
:08:19. > :08:26.about the size of South Korea. It is indeed, a vast portfolio of
:08:27. > :08:30.properties spread over four Australian states. The government
:08:31. > :08:34.said that the property cannot be sold to Chinese investors. The
:08:35. > :08:38.decision was announced on the basis that selling the land in its current
:08:39. > :08:42.form would be contrary to the national interest. Specifically that
:08:43. > :08:47.is because it is too close to a remote area used for weapons
:08:48. > :08:50.testing. This is causing also observed confusion because Chinese
:08:51. > :08:56.investors are allegedly linked to the Chinese government and they were
:08:57. > :09:00.allowed to lease the port of Darwin giving them a look at the movement
:09:01. > :09:07.of US troops stationed at the top end of Australia. That was judged to
:09:08. > :09:11.pose no security problems. The Australian government says it is
:09:12. > :09:14.open for foreign investment but a Shanghai -based real estate expert
:09:15. > :09:20.has said that the latest decision trashes that claim. I am sure we
:09:21. > :09:26.will keep across that. Let's have a quick look at the markets.
:09:27. > :09:33.Closing higher for the fourth session in a row while the rest of
:09:34. > :09:38.Asia was mixed. Taking on a weak lead from Wall Street where shares
:09:39. > :09:42.were choppy at the prospect of higher interest rates and the theory
:09:43. > :09:47.is gaining momentum. They have been rallying on federal reserve hints
:09:48. > :09:52.that it may raise rates in December but that is a mixed blessing. Stocks
:09:53. > :09:59.are climbing amid investor optimism in Europe. They will also be looking
:10:00. > :10:02.at consumer confidence data and the speech from the ECB President Mario
:10:03. > :10:09.Draghi for further indications of the health of the region of the
:10:10. > :10:11.economy. What is making the headlines in the US?
:10:12. > :10:14.On Thursday the US Treasury put in place further rules to discourage
:10:15. > :10:15.US companies from buying smaller foreign rivals
:10:16. > :10:18.in order to move their headquarters abroad and escape US taxes.
:10:19. > :10:23.Wall Street will certainly be looking at how these rules could
:10:24. > :10:29.affect a reportedly close deal between Pfizer and Allergan.
:10:30. > :10:31.The deal could see the US drug giant relocate to Ireland.
:10:32. > :10:34.And Volkswagen will have to explain to US regulators how they plan to
:10:35. > :10:37.bring their nearly half of diesel cars, fit with pollution
:10:38. > :10:46.cheating software, into compliance with emission standards.
:10:47. > :10:48.Volkswagen president in America Michael Horne said he
:10:49. > :10:52.And teen clothing chain Abercrombie and Fitch is expected to report
:10:53. > :10:54.three quarters profits below analyst estimates, sales have
:10:55. > :11:02.Joining us is David Buik from Panmure Gordon Co.
:11:03. > :11:11.That is a familiar face! Good morning. Good morning. The markets,
:11:12. > :11:15.driving the perception of the markets is that commodities are not
:11:16. > :11:19.good but copper is fascinating. That is the one to watch. They are an
:11:20. > :11:28.indicator? Slightly better than tea leaves. On a serious note, all of
:11:29. > :11:34.the big rallies we have had, 1921, 32, 86, have been triggered by the
:11:35. > :11:41.price of copper going up which is astonishing, think about gold or oil
:11:42. > :11:44.or something of that nature, but it is copper. It made as to be a
:11:45. > :11:51.coincidence. Copy used in everything. Yes, every kind of
:11:52. > :11:56.manufacturing. Gold is very specific and often used for hedging and other
:11:57. > :11:59.reasons. It is interesting. The other thing I found fascinating this
:12:00. > :12:04.week is that we are now significantly below where we were 15
:12:05. > :12:14.years ago with the price of all commodities. It is off by about a
:12:15. > :12:17.since 2008 when they hit a high. People are starting to look at
:12:18. > :12:25.mining shares which have been trashed since China put up the red
:12:26. > :12:30.flag. Sorry, that is misleading! It was terrible. They put it up in
:12:31. > :12:33.January, and the first quarter in China is when they looked as though
:12:34. > :12:39.they were falling off the precipice but now it is panned out. China is
:12:40. > :12:44.another barometer for commodities and it looks better. We have seen
:12:45. > :12:49.people in the last week, not just putting their toe in the water to
:12:50. > :12:54.buy some of this trash, but quite a lot. Not long ago Australian
:12:55. > :13:02.companies where the beneficiaries and they had an upswing of three or
:13:03. > :13:05.4%. We have run out of time but we will come back. We will talk to you
:13:06. > :13:05.very shortly. With oil dropping below $40 a
:13:06. > :13:14.barrel this week and global stockpiles at record
:13:15. > :13:17.levels we ask if cheep oil is here Upgrades to Britain's aging rail
:13:18. > :13:25.network will take longer than planned and cost more than expected,
:13:26. > :13:27.according to a cross-party group And it may be passengers
:13:28. > :13:37.who are left to pick up the tab. Ben is in Salford and is
:13:38. > :13:47.following the story for us. You get around! Some of the highest
:13:48. > :13:52.rail fares in Europe already, this will not go down well with train
:13:53. > :13:58.passengers? No, and those passengers could end up picking up the tab.
:13:59. > :14:02.Good morning to you both. Going back two years, ?38 billion was set aside
:14:03. > :14:07.to upgrade the ageing infrastructure on the railways in the UK. A lot of
:14:08. > :14:11.the money was destined for things like Crossrail and the Thames Link
:14:12. > :14:13.in London but also the electrification of the Midlands
:14:14. > :14:19.mainline and also the trans-Pennine route. All of those projects are at
:14:20. > :14:23.various stages of completion, some more than others but the issue is
:14:24. > :14:28.whether they will overrun in terms of cost and time. The cross-party
:14:29. > :14:32.group of MPs have been saying that this is unacceptable, taking too
:14:33. > :14:37.long and the money could rise even further. Just one example, the great
:14:38. > :14:43.Western mainline from London to Cardiff was originally supposed to
:14:44. > :14:51.cost ?1.6 billion and it could be close to ?2.8 billion. That is a
:14:52. > :14:54.significant increase. I was talking to the chair of the committee and
:14:55. > :14:56.she told me that the cost overruns and delays are unacceptable. An
:14:57. > :15:01.acceptable for passengers and taxpayers. It will not be delivered
:15:02. > :15:05.on time and to add insult to injury, the trains that are supposed to run
:15:06. > :15:10.will arrive before the line is built. There are wider issues about
:15:11. > :15:16.the overall management by Network Rail. The role of the regulator and
:15:17. > :15:19.whether it is fit for purpose in the modern world.
:15:20. > :15:27.The implications are for passengers, whether they will be asked to pick
:15:28. > :15:34.up the that for that funding. We should say that from Network Rail's
:15:35. > :15:38.point of view, they have delivered 5000 projects and they said they did
:15:39. > :15:44.that on time and budget but they point to the West, there are a lot
:15:45. > :15:48.of implications to the cost they will have to pay to get these
:15:49. > :15:53.railways up and running. My secret! No time for the Facebook test! --
:15:54. > :15:57.nice haircut! The EU prepares to clamp down
:15:58. > :16:04.on Bitcoin and other anonymous payment systems as it tries to
:16:05. > :16:08.tackle terror funding routes. Ministers are meeting in Brussels
:16:09. > :16:13.today one week after those deadly Paris attacks that killed 129 people
:16:14. > :16:18.and injured so many others. The price of oil dropped below $40
:16:19. > :16:21.a barrel this week as supply Although this is great news
:16:22. > :16:29.for consumers, many producers are Figures out today in the US
:16:30. > :16:37.are expected to confirm this. The Baker Hughes Rig Count looks
:16:38. > :16:42.at the demand for products used in With me to get more
:16:43. > :17:03.on this is our Economics Can you explain what we have just
:17:04. > :17:08.said. This is an American oilfield services company, Baker Riggs, the
:17:09. > :17:13.provides a kind of active oil rigs and has international figures and it
:17:14. > :17:19.is principally used by businesses in the oil business to get some sort of
:17:20. > :17:23.assessment as to what demand they are likely to get for the product
:17:24. > :17:33.used in getting oil out of the ground. It is a useful thing for
:17:34. > :17:36.businesses that are actually in the industry so they have some kind of
:17:37. > :17:44.flavour from what demand they will expect. It gives some overall
:17:45. > :17:49.flavour as to what is going on in the wider industry although there is
:17:50. > :17:55.no drag read from these figures into what oil production will be because
:17:56. > :17:58.one of the reasons the oil price has stayed low is that despite what has
:17:59. > :18:02.happened to the price in the last year, oil production in the US is
:18:03. > :18:09.slightly up on what was compared with the big price back in June last
:18:10. > :18:17.year. We know that the Saudi Arabians are still struggling to cut
:18:18. > :18:22.output, some say they are playing a price game, they are not -- trying
:18:23. > :18:25.to knock off these American fractures but at this price must be
:18:26. > :18:32.a point where it is not cost-effective for some of those US
:18:33. > :18:39.frackers. At the very least it is taking longer for that effect to
:18:40. > :18:45.come through and the Saudis were expecting and the individual rigs
:18:46. > :18:49.have a relatively short life span, not like one of these oilfields in
:18:50. > :18:54.the Middle East, we're talking about if you years and even less in some
:18:55. > :18:58.cases so we might eventually see some of these particular operations
:18:59. > :19:03.finishing off the oil that is readily accessible and then a
:19:04. > :19:08.slowdown in your ones coming on stream but that is the kind of game
:19:09. > :19:13.that the Saudis are playing, it is not coming through quickly and they
:19:14. > :19:18.can survive for a while with prices so low but it is reckoned they will
:19:19. > :19:23.break even. The oil priests they need to balance the budget is about
:19:24. > :19:30.more than double what it currently is. -- oil price. They have reserves
:19:31. > :19:33.but the IMF reckons the Saudis will be running a deficit in the
:19:34. > :19:40.government budget unless you are one of more than 20% of GDP. And this is
:19:41. > :19:44.not just Saudis, when you look at Nigeria and Venezuela, everyone is
:19:45. > :19:51.struggling? Venezuela is another striking example of the deficit, the
:19:52. > :19:56.IMF is addicting 24% of GDP, reflected in their dreadful
:19:57. > :20:02.inflation problem. There are lots of males being bitten in lots of
:20:03. > :20:07.countries, particularly Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran, they don't have
:20:08. > :20:12.the kind of reservists to fall back on that the Saudis and Russia have.
:20:13. > :20:19.Saudi Arabia, we're hearing it is already dipping into its wealth fund
:20:20. > :20:26.just to keep everybody happy and you cannot keep doing that. We get the
:20:27. > :20:35.sense that the commodities, including oil, were in the lower
:20:36. > :20:40.area, we could stay here for some time? That might well be the case,
:20:41. > :20:45.commodities are driven by demand factors to a large extent and the
:20:46. > :20:55.aftermath of big investment and new capacity in the last decade but with
:20:56. > :20:58.oil there is the specific element of shale in North America and is the
:20:59. > :21:01.possibility that might run down in the next couple of years, which
:21:02. > :21:06.might take some of the edge off this. But I don't think anybody is
:21:07. > :21:11.really expecting a big turnaround in the near future. We always
:21:12. > :21:17.appreciate your time, thank you. It has been a busy week and have a good
:21:18. > :21:26.weekend. We will look to the business pages but here is a quick
:21:27. > :21:30.reminder of how to get in touch. The web page is where we can keep you
:21:31. > :21:39.up-to-date with the latest details. Insider analysis from the BBC team.
:21:40. > :21:51.And we want to hear from you get involved on the Business Live web
:21:52. > :22:08.page, Twitter and Facebook. Whenever you need to know... David is back.
:22:09. > :22:11.Another amazing story. This is in the Wall Street Journal and the
:22:12. > :22:15.Telegraph, everywhere, this is a diamond the size of a tennis ball
:22:16. > :22:22.found in Botswana and apparently it is so big they cannot get it into
:22:23. > :22:29.the scanner to work out how clear it is, how many carats, it has to go to
:22:30. > :22:34.Antwerp to be assessed. I understand that Antwerp and India, the other
:22:35. > :22:38.major centres in terms of finding the sort of thing out, as it is
:22:39. > :22:41.staggering, I think the last time anything of the size was when the
:22:42. > :22:51.Crown Jewels were made 100 years ago. And in Botswana, which I did
:22:52. > :22:55.not know, it is the second largest producer of diamonds in the world
:22:56. > :23:02.next to Russia. I had no idea! There you go! Quite staggering and how
:23:03. > :23:09.anybody is going to learn how to clean it and make it commercially
:23:10. > :23:22.viable... We wait! We do know the carat. What do you have? 813? This
:23:23. > :23:34.one is 1111 carats! That is grown-up! 1000 times the size of
:23:35. > :23:45.your average engagement ring! Erm... Yes! The Crown Jewels, the great
:23:46. > :23:48.star of Africa. Yes. We can talk about this story in the Financial
:23:49. > :23:54.Times about the London property market, the prime property market
:23:55. > :23:58.and lots of the buyers are deserting it, a combination of the emerging
:23:59. > :24:03.market world and stamp duty? And we need to go back on if you recall,
:24:04. > :24:09.starting dropping against the dollar at the time of the financial crisis
:24:10. > :24:15.by 20% and they were flooding in here, Asians, Russians, Greeks,
:24:16. > :24:19.everybody. It was a safe haven? It was, but the irony is, old gits like
:24:20. > :24:26.me, we are looking to downsize and this is why you links and actins,
:24:27. > :24:30.they have become ridiculously expensive and transactions, as a
:24:31. > :24:38.result of what you said, basically, the emerging market downturn, and
:24:39. > :24:45.when you pay 5% stamp duty on a house with ?5 million, that is quite
:24:46. > :24:51.a large sum. Transactions are down 19%, which is quite considerable,
:24:52. > :24:57.and there are other reasons. The Chinese, which 9%, Asians 26%
:24:58. > :25:01.overall, Russia, only 1% and domestic buyers, in central parts of
:25:02. > :25:09.London, Kensington, Knightsbridge, 42%. Which did surprise me. When
:25:10. > :25:12.this create a correction? We're only talking about high-end properties
:25:13. > :25:20.will this trickle-down? Give us some correction? The only thing that will
:25:21. > :25:26.move house prices is cheap land and money and as a big estate agents are
:25:27. > :25:35.saying, but prices are not going down, it is just business. We have
:25:36. > :25:40.20 seconds. Star Wars has made 50 million pounds in predicted sales.
:25:41. > :25:48.Yes, 200 and ?19 million in the first week. The show ?219 million. I
:25:49. > :25:54.remember the first one, 1977. You will twinkle in your father's eye,
:25:55. > :26:00.and I took my young son. Lovely to invite me! That izzard, plenty
:26:01. > :26:12.business news throughout the day on the web age. Goodbye. -- web page.
:26:13. > :26:16.It will be colder today than yesterday and will get colder still
:26:17. > :26:19.over the weekend. Short, sharp bursts of cold air coming down from