02/09/2016 BBC Business Live

Ireland's coalition government meets today to try to resolve a split over

a European Commission ruling that it is owed billions

of dollars in back taxes by the US technology giant,

Also in the programme, over a million workers

as part of a nationwide protest by unions.

Things trading higher at the moment. But weak volumes ahead of a key jobs

report from the US later. And we'll be getting the inside

track on the all-important US jobs data and what's at stake

with the upcoming G20 summit with our economics

editor, Kamal Ahmed. Today we want to know,

is brown in town ever acceptable? If you have no idea what I'm talking

about - according to Investment bankers and lawyers and the like -

the dress code in the city of London Let us know using the hashtag

BBCBizLive. We start in Ireland where

Cabinet Ministers meet shortly to decide their next move in the tax

row with Brussels over Apple. The European Commission has

of course ruled this week that Ireland's preferential

tax arrangements with Let's just remind you of the numbers

here: The Commission says in 2014 Apple paid the equivalent of this,

a tax rate of just 0.005%. It's demanding Apple pays 13 billion

euros in back taxes. But Ireland's leaders are split over

whether to take the windfall and jeopardise relations with other

multinationals also based there The affair has resonated

through the corporate world because Apple is just one

of the huge companies attracting the attention of this

lady, EU competition Starbucks, Fiat, BP,

and brewing giant AB Inbev are among those ordered to pay tens

of millions of euros in back taxes after their deals

were ruled illegal. But those rulings could be dwarfed

by an EU investigation into Amazon's tax deal with Luxembourg

dating back to 2003? It claims most of Amazon's European

profits came through a subsidiary there whose structure meant

it avoided paying tax. There's a similar investigation

into McDonald's and its channelling The Commission claims the fast-food

chain hasn't paid corporate taxes on franchise royalties in Europe

and Russia since 2009. Meanwhile, Luxembourg denies giving

either firm special treatment. Amazon and McDonalds say

they believe they've been paying It's becoming a much bigger issue.

Simon jack joins me now. The Irish Cabinet is meeting today. Irish

leaders, including the Prime Minister, they're in a tricky

position. They're split over whether or not to accept this windfall.

Yeah, the ruling minority ministers are resolute they want to appeal

this and say Ireland's done nothing wrong. We are going to appeal the

European Commission. The European Commission is overreaching it self

and getting into matters which are naturally national Sovereign

matters. However, they have a coalition with the independent

alliance MPs and they're not so sure they want to be sending a message

that they are complicit in this tax avoidance. It's a lot of money. How

often does a Government get told it has a windfall of 13 billion and are

going not sure we want it. They're going to have another meeting. It's

not certain they will resolve it. They've two-and-a-half months to

appeal this to the European Commission. Apple is saying it will

appeal. Tim Cook yesterday put out a striking statement, he tried to

circle his wagon saying Apple has done nothing wrong, Ireland has done

nothing wrong, let's stick together. Let's stop the European Commission

from meddling in this way. A meeting today but lots of issues to discuss.

He was quite emotional saying this was to do with politics. He also

raised this issue of potentially repatriating some of Apple's money

offshore back to the States. That's interesting. That was interesting

for me about what he said. In the past they've had enormous cash pile

outside the US, they say we can't take this 200 billion back to the

United States because we would get sued by our own shareholders for

wasting money. 35%? Because the taxes there, thank you for pointing

that out, 35%. What they're saying is we are going to repatriate

several billion dollars of that. How much we don't know. But it's a

definite change and will please, in a way it's a political bone they're

throwing to the US law-makers. So a big change in tack there. It's

interesting when this comes to Europe. The European Commission is a

deeply unpopular institution. Most people associate it with austerity

across Europe. They must have thought cracking down on tax and tax

loopholes was an easy win for them. Do you think they've misjudged the

mood or whether or not they've the timing just right ahead of the G20

and the US presidential elections this year, it's jumped up the

agenda. Definitely the G20 coming up. We have put - this has put tax

right at the top of the agenda. The commission are unpopular, when it

comes to things like competition, if you ask most consumers they've done

good, if you remember roaming charges and different cartels, there

were construction cartels they got involved in. I don't think they've

misjudged the public mood. They've in a way embarrassed US law-makers

saying they've stolen a bit of their thunder, saying if you can't sort

this out we will go in. They say, the US would say we had a

collaborative bit by bit approach with the OECD, we made small

progress. The UK is doing diverted profits, we were getting there. You

jumping in with both feet is not helpful to that international

effort. And if anyone is owed back taxes, it's us, not Ireland. It's a

great row! As you say, it's implications, lots

of big companies. There is no doubt that it seems that the landscape is

changing around this thorny issue. Thank you so much.

Let's look at some other news. World leaders are gathering in China

where the G20 summit is kicking off on Sunday. The US President is

expected to address the issue of controlling corporate tax avoidance.

Other challenges such as the slowing world economy, refugees and

terrorism is also likely to be at the forefront. Quite a list.

Exactly and more on that in a bit. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

says he is "deeply disappointed" at the loss of the company's first

satellite - that was due to deliver broadband internet coverage

for large parts of sub-Saharan The Amos-6 satellite was destroyed

when a SpaceX rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral

where it was being test-fired ahead US supermarket chain Walmart

plans to cut 7,000 back office and accounting jobs

in its US stores. The move comes after a pilot

programme in 500 stores this summer A Walmart official said

the employees affected by the changes would have the option

of moving into jobs serving We want to take you through a few

stories that caught our eye on the business live tablet today.

Including this one, I thought it was interesting. It's about this is from

Samsung. They may issue a recall. It's because of faulty batteries

catching fire. It sounds hazardous. Yesterday we believe Samsung

suspended shipments of this note seven for additional tests. The

timing is not great for the tech giant. It's struggling with its new

premium device and happening at a time with a week off from the latest

iPhone launch from Apple. That could be overshadowed. And they're all

meeting at this conference in Berlin. Might be an unwelcome

talking point. Now to India. More than one million

workers are expected to be on strike today in a nationwide protest by

unions. Shilpa has been following unions. Shilpa has been following

this from Delhi. A million workers, that's pretty extraordinary. It is.

Actually the trade unions are claiming even higher numbers. The

head of the central trade union has told us just before this and he said

there are over 150 million members out on the streets. We have to wait

and see how many of these actual workers are on the streets and how

much of this protest has taken on. The southern states have been

affected, they have been wider protests there, compared to the rest

of India. But public sector banks shut so many can't access bank

accounts. Crucially, things like power supplies are not affected,

essential supplies not affected. Public transport has more or less

been running and railway staff are not part of the strike which means

the key transport lines are working. Many thanks for that.

Let's check in with the equity markets and see about their

progress. Asian markets have been drifting ahead of the US jobs data

for August. Stocks are subdued. The dollar and gold flat ahead of those

key figures. That's what was going on with the markets in Asia.

This is the picture opening up across Europe. I want to mention

oil, because the price is rising. Russia says it's confident that

major producers will agree a deal to freeze output. One could say they

would say that, wouldn't they! One could definitely say that, I think.

Let's talk through the market numbers now with Richard Dunbar. Is

it fair to say markets are in something of a wait and see mode at

the moment ahead of these key US jobs numbers we are expecting? We

are back to this position on a Friday afternoon waiting for the

monthly jobs data. This is an interesting set of data. The August

data is often poorly forecast by investors so investors are looking

for 180,000 jobs to have been added in the US, further confirmation that

the US economy is growing. And probably will follow further

affirmation that US interest rates may rise on the back of that. The

August data can be dodgy, can't it? It is a bit, it's poorly forecast by

markets. It's a difficult time. It's a different time with the summer

holidays, etc. I think the data is poor, the forecasting of that data

is poor. We will see what comes out at lunchtime but I suspect we will

see further confirmation of a US economy that's in better health than

perhaps we thought it would have been a year ago. Looking back over

what's happened over the course of the week, a mixed one when it comes

to Mergers and acquisitions activity. Arms holdings, a great

British company taken over by a Japanese company. We have also seen

the bid for - mixed messages. Last year was the best year since 2007

for Mergers and acquisitions with cheap money, confident boardrooms

and not a lot of growth around. I suspect we will see that activity

pick up again. Mixed messages over the week. We also had more data this

week about the state of the UK economy post that June referendum

vote. Good manufacturing PMI. Things were pretty good, perhaps not

surprising given sterling has fallen 10%. No news on Brexit and sterling

is 10% cheaper making it easier for them to export. Good news. Further

good news on various aspects of the UK economy the last few weeks. Thank

you. You will stick around, for now, thanks.

Still to come why the jobs numbers in the US matter and what we can

expect from the G20 summit. That's coming your way. You are with

Business Live from BBC News. It could be a tough time

for graduates this year - the number of job vacancies has

fallen for the first time in four years, with the sharpest falls

in retail, engineering The number of jobs available is down

8% since last year which means there are just under

20,000 positions to fill. Stephen Isherwood is

the Chief Executive of the Association of

Graduate Recruiters. Stephen, what's going on,

how much has the vote to leave It's a mixture of the vote to leave

the EU and also general uncertainty in the global economy so we find

graduate vacancies very much track what's happening with the economy,

so our sense is employers are being a bit more cautious than they were

last year, when we had double-digit growth, so there is a slight

contraction in the market but we are seeing that counterbalanced by an

increase in the number of apprentice level vacancies so it's a mixed

picture at the moment. I wanted to talk to your about that because I

wonder how many firms are repackaging what were effectively

graduate roles as high apprentice ship jobs in order to make up the

numbers and look good in terms of the company perspective, but

actually the graduates are missing out? It's been a long-term trend of

employers looking at broader talent pools, so much focused on graduate

and also the school leave entry routes, are there particular

training platforms that work better to get that broader talent pool? The

apprentice level is adding fuel to that fire which has already been

smouldering away for the last few years. The levy isn't in place yet.

It's not until next April when the funding structure changes in effect.

I think we are seeing some organisations pre-empting that to a

certain extent. How scary is the job situation for young people coming

out of school or university or college these days? I don't want to

be doom and gloom because there was a danger that people get the message

that there is no vacancies out there. There are thousands of

vacancies out there and school leave a vacancies. We have employers which

don't fulfil all of their vacancies all year, even 2009, the last

session, they couldn't find enough people but the right level of

skills, so it's a tough market. Young people need to prepare for

that market, make themselves employable, build their CV is, do

research, I'm not saying it's not tough, but there are positions out

there. There is a viable jobs market out there and some employers have

increased their vacancies. Good advice. Thank you, Stephen.

Ireland's coalition government meets today to try to resolve a split over

a European Commission ruling that it is owed billions of dollars

in back taxes by the US technology giant, Apple.

In one case there is a situation for do we jeopardise the relationship we

have with this company and all multinationals or do we just take

the money and run? 13 billion euros sounds nice. It's a lot of money.

It's bizarre they are spread over this decision in some ways.

A quick look at how markets are faring.

A fairly muted picture as we said earlier. A lot of markets are

holding back bed of these key US jobs numbers due out later in the

day. The FTSE 100 is up 25 points higher but the house-builders are

the big losers of the moment on the FTSE 100. All four of the players

are down. Barclays is down by 3% at the moment. The FTSE 250 is also

down. Go ahead, transport company, those shares are going up on the

back of higher annual profits. More on the website.

And now let's get the inside track on this week's news with our

Many thanks for coming into the studio. We were talking about it

earlier, the fact US jobs is on the mind of traders this week, but let's

begin by talking about what's coming up, the G20's. Remind us what it

really is, why it's important. It's the world's richest nations,

America, Britain, France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, India, the most

important economic nations, China, of course, and it's almost like a

Christmas dinner after a series of family rows. It can all be a bit

uncomfortable. Of course we have the imminent divorce, Britain planning

to leave the European Union. We have tensions between China and the UK,

written and postponed the final decision on the big new Hinkley

nuclear power station jointly funded by Russia and China in the UK.

Tensions over tax, as you have been discussing. America and the European

Commission at loggerheads over this tax bill for Apple. And the warning

from the IMF saying growth is low across the world and countries need

to think much more carefully about their fiscal policies, not just

relying on central banks and monetary policy, to re-spark that

growth, so there's a lot of tensions. Russia over Ukraine and

its own economic problems because of a commodity prices. Brazil in

teaching former Presidents. There is a lot to go out. This is Barack

Obama last 20. Theresa May, her first. I think there will be a lot

of robust discussion. A real change in mood, the you, Barack Obama

leaving, who will be the next president? There are some big

tectonic plates shifting in the economy. It's an important G20. One

of those tectonic plate is around trade and the changes in attitude.

The IMF talk about globalisation at watching it up the agenda, but do

you think we are fighting a losing battle across the world when it

comes to protectionism? Trade deals have collapsed. Certainly the World

Trade Organisation brought out a report saying protectionism is

growing. Politicians are very aware that lots of people in countries

feel that they have missed out on global growth. If you are a medium

or low income person or family, you haven't enjoyed the riches of the

last 20 years, where we have seen a lot of growth up until the 2008

financial crisis. It's been growth focused on the rich, and that is led

to politicians bringing in place trade barriers. Could the UK leaving

the EU add to that? At the same time, you have these big issues

around how central banks are operating, and what they are given

with interest rates. You have got pressure upwards on interest rates

in America. At the same time, in the UK, in the European Union, Japan,

you've got downward pressure on interest rates, a great divergences

which means there are these big tensions on whether we are still

going to be open in terms of trade, versus protectionism, and also on

interest rate policy more generally. That Segway is nicely into my next

question. I could see what you were doing there. I always want to help

you. Job numbers are coming out later today. The reason they matter

is what it could mean for the US Federal reserve, their central bank,

in terms of raising interest rates and that matters for the rest of the

world, doesn't it? The American economy is the most important

globally, it drives a huge amount, not only exports and trade, but also

sentiment. If the American economy is seen as strong, it sends a signal

to all the other major economies, but mixed views about which way it

might go. Of course, there has been strong jobs data over the last two

months, but manufacturing data less strong in America and inflation

pretty flat, so we will know later today what they do for the cut

interest rates go up in America this year? Most markets think maybe not

in September but maybe in November. Fantastic to talk to you.

In a moment we'll take a look through the Business Pages,

but first here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us.

Here is where you can stay ahead with all the days breaking news. We

will keep you up-to-date with the latest details, insight and analysis

from the BBC's team of editors right around the world and we want to hear

from you, too. Get involved on the BBC business live web page. And on

Twitter. And you can find us on Facebook. On TV and online, whenever

you need to know. We have been asking you what you think about

dress codes in the office and whether or not Brown in town is ever

acceptable, brown shoes, of course in the City of London. We've had

some messages for the Henry Pryor said, on Friday, where Tweed. James

Hughes, a regular on the show, said, when I first started in the city at

18, I was once sent home to change my shoes. No. I'm an Eastern

European immigrant and I would never wear brown shoes with a suit for

that nothing to do with going to eat, but reading up on the basics.

Would you wear brown in town? I probably wouldn't for that I'm

properly where the standard uniform they are talking about here. A tie

and black shoes full it doesn't mean I wouldn't hire someone who wore

round shoes and that's a different thing. My aim is to hire diversity,

hire the best talent we can get, and that may be wearing a different

outfit to me, so that's a secret. The whole industry is accused of

monocultural as but reports like this do not help the case at all or

cover the industry. People are missing out on jobs because someone

doesn't like their footwear. Exactly. All the evidence suggests

diversity of background, experience, gender, clothing, produces a better

team, better outcomes, better investments, better decisions, so

everyone should be fishing around in as big a pool as one can. Let's hope

that trickles down. I want to flag up the story from the Times, buy to

let landlords moving increasingly into the air B sector, which is

interesting because that was not the original idea behind the location

sharing website. It is meant to be for short-term. Firstly, it shows

the power of disruptive technology. If you want to do B previously,

you would wait for someone to phone you, but no just download the app,

take a picture of your flat and you are off, so it's changed the market

for bed-and-breakfast, but also, I suspect, you look at how money

houses to be to build in the UK when the forecast was done two years ago,

to try to think about that, they were properly not thinking of air

B, and that product taking that stocks off the market. Interesting

how it's changed. Many thanks, Richard.

There will be more business news throughout the day on the BBC Live

webpage and on World Business Report.

Have a fabulous weekend in the meantime. See you soon. Bye-bye.

Some damp and breezy weather in prospect for