12/04/2016 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson

Corporate giants forced to come clean -

the EU cracks down on tax avoidance, with plans to force big firms

Live from London, that's our top story on Tuesday 12th of April.

The European Union prepares to unveil new tax rules

for the world's biggest companies, forcing them to reveal how much tax

But will the EU target tax havens too?

Japan's biggest brokerage Nomura plans cost cuts

Around 1,000 employees in Europe and the Americas are expected

to lose their jobs in a massive reorganisation of the business.

This is how Europe has opened in the first few minutes of trade, we will

assess the movers. And it's International Record

Store Day this Saturday. We'll be getting the inside track

on vinyl, when we speak to the company that makes

these record players. We will make the boss of, the

company that makes these record players. What other retro- tech

would you like to see? It is a busy show, let's get

started. Plans to force corporate giants

to disclose more about their tax affairs will be unveiled

by the European Union later today. Even before the leak

of the Panama Papers - which shone a spotlight on tax

avoidance globally - the European Commission

was debating new rules Tax avoidance currently costs the EU

between $60 and 80 million dollars That's big bucks when

many EU countries are So the new proposals

would require big companies - those earning over $850 million

a year - will have to publish their income and tax reports

from whichever EU country they operate in, on a

country-by-country basis. It would cover 6,500 companies

around the world, including But tax transparency campaigners say

the rules won't go far enough. They argue tax havens should also

fall under the new rules, with data from outside

the EU to be published Thanks for being on the programme.

Just to start with, hearing what Ben outlined sounds like a huge headache

for these global companies to have to come up with all this new

information? This draft proposal was put forward by the European

Commission today and if it gets through, multinational companies and

big companies would have to disclose that rough it, income and tax bills

that they make within the EU, that would be available to the public --

disclose their profits, income and tax bills. This could get a real

boost because of the Panama Papers, there is more interest because tax

avoidance is bigger news. They are talking about drawing up and EU list

of tax havens. They would need to get member countries on board to

list tax havens. Basically, it would mean that if a multinational or big

company which does business within the EU has interests in a tax haven,

they would have to declare. The EU can't enforce anything, it would be

up to the parent nation to deal with it. It is the idea of putting it out

there for the public. Transparency campaigners are saying, oh, well, it

does not go far enough, it means that multinationals would not have

to publish their income in tax payment outside of the EU. -- income

and tax payments. At the EU would like this to pass, they did not

think it would go through if they made multinationals do that. Just to

say, which is typical of Europe, this will take quite some time

before it comes into force, assuming the announced plans are approved?

This is draft legislation being proposed today. It will have to be

accepted by EU leaders and then it will have to go through the European

Parliament. They are hoping that, because of the Panama Papers

scandal, there will be political will. It might be embarrassing for

EU leaders to oppose it too strongly. Also, it needs a qualified

majority vote to pass, it has been put into financial services, it does

not need unanimous voting, so they are hopeful that it will move

through, but the process takes months. For now, Leana, thank you

very much. She will keep us up to date. Some of the other business

News... Metals giant Alcoa has

cut its forecasts for revenue and earnings as it downgraded

expectations for global growth. The firm - which is often

seen as an indicator of the health of US industry -

says first-quarter earnings fell by 92%,

hurt by weak aluminium prices. The company also says it's

considering up to 2,000 job cuts. Luxury goods retailer LVMH says

revenues were up 4% in the first three months of this year,

compared to the same LVMH owns more than 60 luxury

brands, including Kenzo, The company said the US

market remained strong, but France has been affected

by a fall in tourism. Particularly sends the November

terrorist attacks in Paris. -- particularly since.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has suffered a blow to her hopes

A special committee in Brazil's lower house of Congress has voted

in favour of recommending her impeachment over allegations

Looking at what is being discussed online today, there is a lot of

detail on some of the stories we have mentioned. If you want to dig

into the tax story you can look at that Onana Business Life page. There

are many of the stories, Nomura, which we will talk about with a team

in Singapore in a moment, but it is the London Book Fair starting this

morning. Some nice old tech to get your teeth into! In the wake of the

Kindle and the growth of e-readers, the book is making a bid of a

comeback. That is a bit like story about vinyl. Let's mention Japan.

Japan's largest brokerage, Nomura, plans to shut down its European

equity operations as it cuts costs after years of failing to become

Nomura, this is interesting, we have heard about the implications of a

slowdown around the world and what it means for many organisations, to

some extent the financial world has survived most of this unscathed, but

not yet getting through quite so cleanly? Global investment banks in

recent years, many have been selling off Origi sing the size of non-core

or non-performing businesses. Japan 's Nomura is the latest to join

them. We understand they are downsizing the size of a European

cash equities business. They are not shutting it down, they are getting

rid of basic and proportion, meaning lots of jobs will go -- getting rid

of a significant proportion. They say that will be 500 to 600 jobs in

North America and Europe, but another source says around 1000 jobs

could go as well. This is a big load from Nomura, they have wanted to be

an international player on the banking stage. In 2008 they bought

Lehman Brothers' European and Asian businesses when the firm went under

chewing the height of the financial crisis, they wanted to build their

brands abroad. Ultimately, it has not performed, they have not made

money, and so like their peers they have suffered from market volatility

and they are shrinking the size of businesses that are not doing well.

Thank you, Leisha Chi in Singapore bureau.

Let's look at what the numbers are doing at the moment.

Worries over earnings on the minds of investors this week.

The worry that it could be another disappointing quarter and there's

lots of speculation about just how bad it could get.

Major banks announcing their earnings this week

and if they come in below expectations, it starts raising

tough questions for policymakers, not least the Fed and whether it

Mariko Oi has the details from New York.

The International Monetary Fund issues its latest world economic

Outlook on Tuesday, this comes just ahead of the IMF's Spring meetings

with the World Bank taking place this week in Washington, DC. In the

forecast, expect warnings that the global economy is at risk, because

of China's downturn, lower commodity prices and the slowdown in emerging

market economies. This week brings plenty of fresh US economic data. On

Tuesday, look out the numbers on the federal budget in addition to import

and export prices. In tech news, Facebook holds its annual developers

conference this week in San Francisco. It kicks off on Tuesday

and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be delivering the keynote address. That

is the lovely Mariko, she is normally in Singapore but she is in

New York at the moment. Joining us is Tom Stevenson,

Investment Director Good morning, Tom. As Mariko

mentioned, it is about earnings. The news last night did not look good?

Earnings are a big focus, Alcoa always kicks it off, they were

pretty disappointing. 92% fall. They downgraded the outlook for global

growth and demand for aluminium. The thing about earnings season this

quarter is the expectations are very low, we expect earnings to be as

much as 8% lower, year-on-year. In a way, that could be good, markets

react to what they expect. If earnings expectations are as low as

they are, things could turn out better than expected. That

fascinates me about earnings season, it is managing expectations. Lots of

organisations have said that things are terrible, the reality is

difficult, but if you speak to them privately, they say, things are not

bad, we are coping, there is a real mismatch between what they want to

publicly admit this is what they are preparing us for? Lots of it is

managing expectations, if you can get the market to think that things

will be pretty bad, when you announce your figures it can give

your share price a boost. Oil is in focus, at the end of last week in

particular? One of the reasons why earnings season is expected to be so

bad is because the energy sector profits will be very, very low,

almost wiped out. All eyes will be on the Doha negotiations, they are

talking about whether they can cut production in order to boost the

price. Expectations for a positive outcome through those talks has

already seen the oil price push-up to about $43 a barrel, a lot higher

than six weeks ago or so. Thank you, Tom. He will talk as do some of the

stories later. Vinyl revival - they were once

destined for museums and history books, but vinyl records

are making a comeback. And that's good news

for the makers of record players! We meet the man behind one

of the world's most respected makers of turntables -

the Glasgow-based firm Linn You're with Business

Live from BBC News. We've had an update from the online

retailer ASOS this morning. It says profits are up

18% to ?21.2 million The firm began life at the height

of the dotcom boom in 2000, has had a tough few years but now

says it's on track to meet sales and profit guidance for the full

year. I think ASOS stands for As Seen On

Screen? Absolutely. Kate Hardcastle is a retail expert

at Insight With Passion. Good morning. Talk is through this

turnaround. It has been pretty tough in recent times, but we are told

that things are looking much better? What I think ASOS have done

brilliantly is determine what their core purposes, they have understood

that, for a 20-something customer, of which they want to be the world

leading retailer to supply them, they had to change their business to

suit. You have got offers to that 20-something customer, free returns,

free delivery, categorisation not only by-product but by fashion trend

and celebrity, which makes the ASOS site very appealing, there

easy-to-use and, for a 20-something, very exciting. Hind the scenes they

have operations to conform a lot better, they have their

international situation sorted out by pulling out of China are little

bits, they have ensured that their operational/ chair, their returns

policy etc, is healthier for the customer -- their operational

structure. That said, you will still see consumers complaining about the

challenges they find contacting somebody at the business.

Interesting that ASOS should see a turnaround, companies like Marks

Spencer, that dignity with their women's clothing, are struggling. Do

they look at these companies and try to pick from them the best bits of

turnaround plans? That is what you have with ASOS, they will be

spending money and leading the way, others will be quick to follow,

adding not gone down some of the dead-end roots that they will have

to invest in. -- having not gone down. They have listened to the

customer and are delivering, that they have a very fickle customer in

the 20-something. Marks Spencer 's have such a wider group of customers

to be able to offer two, it is a much more difficult challenge. Thank

you, Kate. Things looking much better, Kate,

thank you. Our top story: Corporate giants

forced to come clean. The EU cracks down on tax avoidance,

with plans to force big firms to publish where

they make their profits. And therefore pay tax in the

jurisdiction in which it is earned. The EU says that could be about to

end. This Saturday is International

Record Store Day, an initiative designed to promote sales

of vinyl records. After being consigned

to the history books, sales of vinyl have soared

and that's boosted demand And it's something our next guest

knows all too well. The company is one of

the world's most respected Linn was founded by Gilad's

father, Ivor, in 1973. While the company still sells

its original turntable and new home music systems,

it also makes revenue from the sale of digital downloads

from its recorded music division, and from its recently added line

of digital streaming players. Gilad Tiefenbrun is

Managing Director of Linn. A very warm welcome to Business

Live. Thank you. There is so much to your business, I think people

generally think of the turntable, don't they? Because that's really

what you were about and what many sort of associate you with, isn't

it? That's right. My father invented the Linn LP12 turntable in 1973. He

was a mechanical engineer with a passion for music and people were

designing turntables so they wouldn't skip on the record and

through trial and error he realised if you focussed on getting

information out of the groove of the record, you could actually achieve a

much better sound. So you grew newspaper a home where you were

being blasted by music all the time! Your dad and his colleagues testing

things out. You told me there was a lot of Pink Floyd? Yes, I was kept

awake by Darkside Of The Moon and ELO, that's what it was like back in

the 70s. The vinyl and the record player has stood the test of time as

we said there, making a come back now and in the meantime, we have

seen CD players come and go, we have seen cassettes come and go, what is

it about vinyl that people keep coming back to? There is something

magical about the experience of taking that record out of its sleeve

and you have to take really good care of it, putting it down on the

platter and there is something interactive that makes you connect

with the music and encourages you to listen to the full side of an album

which is so different to the flipping mentality that there is

today. So there is a real kind of enduring, enjoyment that goes with

vinyl that really attracts people plus it sounds better than the other

formats that you mentioned. It doesn't sound better than digital

though and during the digital era, that was something that you

introduced to the company, wasn't it? Well, that's right. Modern

digital recordings are best experienced just played directly

through a digital streamer like our range of players, but to a beguning

generation they will only have experienced MP3, probably through

portable players, so vinyl for them is a big jump up in quality,

probably the best quality they will have experienced. We are talking

about the comeback, but it will always be a niche business, I can't

imagine this will see the full-scale appeal that it once did, but it is

an important niche and one that will keep making money for you, but

digital and streaming services are the majority of your business, how

do you balance the two conflicting demands? Well, my father had the

fore sight to design his turntable so it was upgradeable. So if you

bought it the LP12 in 1973 you could upgrade it step by step to the 2016

specification. We take a similar approach on the digital side, but it

is software upgrades so if new formats come out, we make sure our

customers can experience the improvements in sound quality. So

what's the next step? Where do we go next? Well, I think people want to

listen to whatever they want, wherever they are and I think what

we are seeing then is higher quality digital coming along through

streaming services like Tidal and they integrate to a system like Linn

and allow you to access the huge libraries in the Cloud and not

necessarily at MP3 quality, there is now higher quality music becoming

available for everyone. It is fascinating. We could talk much

more, but time is against us. Thank you for coming in. We appreciate it.

We were asking you what other retro tech would you like to see make a

comeback? A surprising number said you want to see cassettes back. I

really don't understand that. I don't either. I remember them

unRAFFing and the whole thing getting messy! And you had to do it

with your pencil and the rubbish quality! A lot of you commenting on

the difference in the quality as we touched on, the difference between

CDs, records, vinyls and cassettes, clearly quality is a big issue. Are

you too young for vinyl? No, I remember vinyl. He is not that young

then you see! Not that young! Let's move swiftly on, shall we?

. Well, how about adding

17 more rotor blades? Entrepreneur Alex Zosel says

that his unusual looking device with 18 rotors can still fly

even if some of its batteries It can even land itself

when battery power is low. But the multicopter can only fly

for 25 minutes and is expected to cost nearly $300,000

when it goes on sale. With 18 rotors we have a really safe

system so we can lose more than two rotors with no problems and also

in very hard and So we have a lot of people

who want to buy it. So the first step is we want

to sell to flight schools. So the challenge is

with the authorities. The German authorities are working

very, very good with us. So we are sure that we can have

in two-and-a-half years a type certification so we can produce

a large scale and sell it We were so.

Busy having a chat there, welcome back!

They didn't go anywhere. They were just listening to helicopter news.

Welcome back to our conversation and Tom is with us to talk about the

newspapers and Tom, we are going to talk about this tall tower. Dubai,

home, of course, to the world's tallest, but they are going to build

an even taller one? Yeah, funny that, isn't it? I can see why they

are building another tall tower because the Saudis just next door

are about to open an even taller, a one kilometre high kingdom tower.

Unsurprisingly the UAE, Dubai are coming back by 2020 they will have

an even taller tower and it will sit within a megaretail district, you

would have thought Dubai probably had enough retail space, but who

knows. Someone has done the research about when you build the towers and

it tends to be, you build during a downturn when stuff is cheap and

labour is cheap and building materials are cheap and you get the

fruits of your labour when the economy picks up again. There is so

there is a strange correlation between what the economy is doing

and when you build these things? The cycle is wrong which is why property

companies make a lot of money and lose a lot of money. That's the

nature of the business. On from the tall tower to the new ?5 in

Australia which viewers will see in a moment when this loads up. Sorry

Australia dollars. A picture of the Queen on it? Yes, I have seen only

seen a black and white picture. If you look at the comments below the

story on the online version of this. We have got a colour one, Tom.

Rather unfavourable comments about the colours, could have been drawn

by a child in kindergarten. Plus the Queen is grey. A lot of comments

about the Queen perhaps unsurprise grid in Australia. So --

unsurprisingly in Australia. So it is not an uncontroversial note. It

makes h look rather young. On to the Guardian, Kraft beer, we have a lack

of hops. This is another industry that we used to do very well and

stopped doing. We used to grow lots of hops, we stopped growing hops and

now they are grown in America and Germany, but there has been a

problem with the German harvest. There is a shortage of hops. The

price are soaring and one of the reason the price is soaring is

because of Kraft beer, they use a lot of hops, Kraft beers. Are you a

craft beer fan? I like a beer once in a while. Let's ignore that. My

tablet is doing funny things. Sally has broken the tablet so it means we

have got to go! That's all from Business Live for

another day. We are back tomorrow. We are, same time, same place. Have

a great day. Bye-bye.