21/09/2016 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.

It is Super Wednesday with two of the world's most influential

central banks making big decisions that could directly affect

Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday, 21st September.

There was no change in the cost of borrowing from the Bank of Japan

but all eyes now shift to America's Central Bank for any

signs of a rate rise for the world's largest economy.

Also in the programme, Tesla car gets hacked and they gain

The firm has updated the software to correct the problem,

but what safety issues does it raise for the electric car giant.

And we'll bring you all the latest market reaction to that

European markets up by 0.5%. Stay tuned for the reaction to what's

happening on global markets. And we'll get the inside track

on how technology is making life The website Live Better With sells

non-medical products to help Could hi-tech fitness tracker make

you fatter not fitter? It's being called super Wednesday

with announcements from two central bank heavyweights -

the Bank of Japan and The Bank of Japan has decided

to keep rates on hold at minus 0.1% and hasn't

added to its stimulus. Later it's the turn

of America's Central Bank to tell us what it has

decided to do. But the two are facing very

different economic challenges and today's events show why central

banks comes in for so much scrutiny. As economies have struggled to pick

up after the global slowdown, Central Bank policy has become

increasingly important but also Japan has led the way

in lowering rates. And the cost of borrowing

is hovering at near historic lows but also across most developed

countries around the world. Such low rates has meant

Central Banks have had to take other That's why we've seen a big rise

in the use of quantitative easing, where central banks buy

large amounts of debt and that frees up money

in the wider economy for lending In Europe, for instance,

the ECB is buying 80 billion euros a month and it includes government

and corporate debt. But despite this unprecedented

action, inflation has stayed stubbornly low and growth,

except in America, So what tools do Central Banks

actually have left to Karishma Vaswani is in Singapore

and we've had that Bank Some reports say it is tinkering

around the edges of a policy that's not working. Is that the case? That

would be fair to say that's been the assessment among many of the

analysts that I have been speaking to, but remember the Bank of Japan

is always controversial or it has been recently certainly and

investors in Tokyo re-Warded the policy statement with showing with a

rise in shares, by over 12%. 1%, the yen weakened slightly. As you said

the BOJ didn't push interest rates further below zero, but it is

targeting the yield curve of ten-year-old bonds aim to go keep

that around zero. Both the measures appear to be aimed at ensuring that

those big banks and financials, remember they make up a huge portion

of the Japanese economy, pension funds as well as insurance

companies. They don't continue to see profits hurting the way they

have been in the past and ever since that negative interest rate decision

came into play around January, but analysts as I was saying earlier are

pretty divided on whether the moves will be effective because as we have

been talking about, the ammunition for central banks appears to be

running out and key economic reforms have yet to take place there.

Thank you very much. There is more on the website. Thank you for now.

Pippa Malmgren is founder of the DRPM Group and an international

Nice to see you. So we've heard about the Bank of Japan. Give us

your take on how they've tweaked things. In Japan they are literally

running out of tools. They're minus interest rates. They have been

pumping stimulus and they've tried it all, haven't they? So today they

have said they are not going to have quantitative easing, they are going

to have quantitative and qualative easing and price for interest rates

for long-term and short-term money so it is more expensive to borrow

long-term. That's to help the pension funds, they are really

struggling? They surely are, but the thing is quantitative easing doesn't

necessarily work the same way in every country and I would argue it

doesn't work in Japan, but it does work in the United Kingdom and it

work in the United States and that's why there is speculation that the

Federal Reserve is going to raise interest rates potentially at some

point, maybe today, but maybe soon, but in Japan, no. And there are lots

of reasons, but I would say the main reason is they're not very

supportive of small businesses which is where two-thirds of the net new

jobs are created, firms that have less than 50 people. So in Japan,

you can put all the money you want in the system, but it never gets to

the little businesses, whereas it dus in the UK and the US. Let's talk

about the Fed. It is an interesting one. One we've watched closely. All

the speculation about will they do, when will they do and how much will

they do it by? Today we could get some answers and we will see a

direct impact on the markets? It looks like the polls are showing

only a fifth of the traders in the market believe that they'll raise

interest rates to. It would be a surprise if they acted, but they've

told us that they want to raise interests interest rates. I think,

they have not warned us as frequently as they did in the past

so people are hesitating. But the reality is if they do, it is the

equivalent of taking a teaspoonful of water out of a bathtub. It

doesn't actually tighten the liquidity conditions much. I say

even if they act, the market might be initially surprised, but I think

it will make the stock market go up. Pippa, thank you. Michelle is

stationed at the US Central Bank in Washington and will update us as

soon as we get the news. The boss

of American Bank, Wells Fargo, has apologised to customers,

but refused to resign after a two hour grilling by a Senate Banking

Committee yesterday. He was giving evidence

after two million fake accounts were created at the bank that

customers hadn't John Stumpf said he was "deeply

sorry" for that and Oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil

is being investigated over the way The company may have misled

investors and the public by failing to reflect a slump in oil prices,

increasing regulation and potential A Tesla car has been hacked

by researchers in China, and the company has now updated

the software in its vehicle The researchers managed to control

the brake system on a moving vehicle and opened a car door

using a laptop. Tesla says the attack could only be

triggered when a web browser was in use and the vehicle was close

enough to a malicious wi-fi It is very worrying, isn't it? Not a

great thing to be able to control the brakes and the door from a

laptop, for the people inside, anyway.

In Europe, it is all about what is happening at the central banks.

Michael Hewson from CMC Markets is in London.

We are 40 minutes into the European day, what's going on? Are people

reacting to Japan are just looking ahead to the Fed or a bit of both? A

bit of both. The financial stocks are up significantly on the Bank of

Japan's tweaking of its policy framework, but all eyes will be on

the Fed. It is clear the Federal Reserve is split down the middle as

to whether it should raise rates. The window is closing for the Fed to

act and while markets aren't expecting a rate rise today, there

is an expectation that Janet Yellen could give guidance on a potential

rate rise in December. Michael, when we talk about the reaction on the

markets, what is it that investors want to see? Is it just clarity,

some sort of direction rather than this scrabbling around for any tool

that's left or is it that they actually want to see a rate rise

because it makes money more attractive? Absolutely. I think

that's exactly what investors want to see. At the beginning of this

year we were told to expect four rate rises this year. Thus far, we

are still waiting for the first one. Ultimately, I think, the perception

out there is get it out of the way, get it done and update the market as

to what your inflation expectations are going forward. Michael, as

always, it is really good to talk to you.

Joining us is James Quinn, Group Business Editor

We promised we would talk about at thes lard, it sounds worrying,

Chinese hackers controlling the brakes? There was a team of Chinese

hackers 12 miles from the car. They published the video online and at

thes lard were able to issue an update to the software. You say it

is good they figured this out now before the cars, clearly, the cars

are up and running and on the road, but spot it early, get the patch

sent out and the software updated and they say no one needs to take

the car in, they have been able to do this over the air? That's

different compared to with what happened to VW and the emissions

scandal which is still leading to the recall of hundreds of thousands

of cars across Europe. This is how it works with innovation with

companies pushing into new frontiers, but the news about the at

thes lard vehicles has been negative lately. It has had an effect on the

share price? Yes, it closed at $204 yesterday compared to 240, the

question is regulation. The regulation is not really keeping up.

The US yesterday releasing rules to try and work out how companies like

at thes lard and Uber which is testing autonomous cars keep us all

safe. The regulation issue is a really interesting one. As touched

on, all this innovation is happening faster than the regulation can keep

up with, so you might find that the regulators are just having to do

piecemeal bits of regulation to stay on top of it and it strikes me they

need to step back and think this is the future, how are we going to deal

with this, but they can't do that yet? It is country by country. In

the US alone... State by State. The federal regulators said companies

should share their data and whether they do that, that's a different

matter. James, we will see you later. More to talk to James about

in terms of stories in the media. Including the fitness trackers and

whether they make you fatter or fitter!

Tech support, how one firm is using technology

We'll speak to the woman behind the website that's simplifying

You're with Business Live from BBC News.

In the UK, Royal Bank of Scotland has had a setback trying to offload

Selling the branches was a key condition of RBS' taxpayer-funded

bailout at the height of the financial crisis.

Theo Leggett has the details in our business newsroom.

Theo, they have been trying to sell them, but the buyer pulled out. Just

explain this for us. Well, this is a real problem for RBS because they

have, as you say a legal requirement to sell 315 branches by the end of

next year. That was a condition attached to the taxpayer bail out in

2008, but the problem is at the moment, there aren't many buyers for

banking branches. We're all moving our accounts online and they're not

particularly profitable and bank accounts anyway aren't particularly

profitable as an investment because of low interest rates and there are

a couple of million accounts we understand that come with the

branches. So RBS is trying to sell them. Santander was one buyer, it

was interested and it pulled out in 2012, RBS then tried to set-up a

stand alone business under the Williams and Glyn brand. That wasn't

working out and then Santander came into the picture, but they are

disagreeing over price. RBS would like ?1.5 billion and ?2 billion and

Santander isn't willing to pay that much. There is not many potential

buyers out there. Whilst this is going on, what about the wider

problems at RBS? Look at this share price from just a

few days ago. That was because of the fines which the Department of

Justice is thinking about imposing on Deutsche Bank for misselling

mortgage security. Now, RBS is also in the firing line for that kind of

thing. So you can see investor reaction there. Not only that but a

recently reported $2 billion loss for the first six months of this

year, which is partly linked to a legal hangover from payment

protection insurance misselling. The big picture for RBS is that there

are a lot of things on the line. It is not going terribly well. And

investors, as you can see, are not terribly happy, either. Majestic

Wine has warned that profits will be hit by a slow down in its commercial

business, and also a failure in its direct mail campaign in the US. More

on that on the websites. Japan's Central Bank keeps

rates on hold at -0.1%, and now, all eyes shift Stateside

for the Federal Reserve's decision, as Central Banks struggle to revive

growth in the world economy. The big question - do they have any

tools left to tackle sluggish growth? That's what we have been

discussing this morning. Now, we know technology has

changed our everyday lives, but can it also help ease

pain from illness? The website Live Better With was

launched late last year to help millions of people suffering

from cancer to find non-medical products specifically for them,

all in one place. Over 500,000 visitors have used

the site, with 20,000 patients and carers now part

of the online community. Live Better With has offices

in London and New York and has received over ?2 million in private

investment in the last few months. Tamara Rajah is the founder and CEO

of the website Live Better With. She joins us now. Nice to see you.

First of all, just explain the concept behind the website. It

strikes me, there's lots of places you can get these kind of things

online, but this is about bringing them altogether? Yes, they're all

over the place. If you're suffering from cancer or a long-term

condition, or you're caring for somebody who is, how do you bring

together what could be hopeful for them? That's the whole purpose

behind this. It should be at your thing tips. That's what we do, it's

to make day-to-day life a little bit better, bring together all the

things which can be useful and curated them. So if we look at your

website, we've got all the different elements. You've got different kinds

of problems, with skin, with Herrera, you can click on that

particular area. How do you make money out of this? We bring together

all of the products which would be helpful for people living with

cancer. They are available on the site. So you can come there knowing

only how you feel. So, I feel sick. Click on it and find all the things

which other people feeling sick have felt helpful, and then buy it, all

on one site. How do you get all of that information from so many people

you're talking to, it is an enormous task, how many people have you got

doing it? We're a team of eight at the moment, but through us, we reach

thousands of people living with cancer, through our online community

and through face-to-face interviews. But presumably you've got to check

the products are legitimate? Yes, so, a lot of the products are things

that may have been recommended in a very fragmented way by individual

doctors and nurses. So again, bringing together all of that in one

place. At the minute this specifically looks at cancer. It

strikes me the business model would apply to different conditions as

well - do you have plans to expand? The vision is to help all people

with long-term illnesses. Exactly as you say, the business model extends

to people living with chronic conditions who have different side

effects and symptoms. But to start with, we're focusing on cancer, and

for that alone, there's hundreds of products. Talkers through the

journey of getting this up and running. It's a lovely website, you

conceive the need for it, but there must have been a lot of pain and

long hours and blood, sweat and tears going into getting it off the

ground? And looking at some of the stuff, it's about bringing together

the experts as well? It absolutely is, it's a balance of content, as

well as the products themselves. Each of those needs a lot of

searching and validating and curating and clearing it all up.

It's balancing this social mission that we have two make life better

for people with cancer, with building a sustainable business,

which is what will help it grow in the long-term. You have been around

for a year, and most people don't know about you. It's a very, very

busy, noisy environment online. How on earth will you get your voice out

there, other than being on Business Life -- On Business Live? That Is

The Thing, We Have This Burning Need To Reach Everybody With Cancer In

The Whole World. That's what striving us. It is a huge mission!

But everybody should know where to find these things. That's what's

behind it. We are partnering with charities, with hospitals, and other

people as well. Where does the money come from to scale up on this, with

that sort of ambition, as well as with the charities on the hospitals,

you need to partner with financial institutions, clearly. How receptive

have they been to this? Yes. You mentioned the investment that we've

had, and it's got a very warm reception from investors. And I

think that balance of what we're doing for people with these

conditions, plus building a sustainable business, but coupled

together makes it an attractive investment story. Thanks for your

time today, and all the very best. Very interesting concept. We will

keep an eye on how it progresses. Best of luck to.

In a moment, we'll take a look through the business pages.

Including those fitness devices. My love of burgers, what can I say?!

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

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

analysis from the BBC's team of editors around the world. And we

want to hear from you, too. Get involved on our web page.

Let's talk about that story that we have now mentioned a few times. I

just want to talk you through the story first of all. This is about

fitness trackers and weather they can make you fat or fitter. A lot of

you getting in touch with us this morning. This one says, personally I

think it makes me smarter and fitter. It lets you check on the

amount of calories and nutrients. Where does he get that from, being

more smart? Is it about eating smart, do you think? Your thoughts?

The story is based on a University of Pittsburgh study which look that

500 people over two years. Those who did not have the trackers actually

lost more wait, there were people who were doing weight counselling in

any case. As Ben was saying earlier, you are thinking that you only have

to walk 10,000 steps and everything is all right - that's probably not

quite right. I think it is an interesting concept because it is

about this kind of outsourcing responsibility for your fitness.

It's not about thinking of a work-out plan, it's, I just need to

walk 10,000 steps. It's brilliant to get people moving, but then... I

haven't got one, but they do more than just how many steps, don't

they? Yes, it's smartphones and watches now have got lots of

different techniques to outsource health, and there is big business in

it. Google and others are trying to get into it. There is that thing,

all the gear and no idea. People posting about where they have run,

how long they have run for... Clearly you're not a fan! Let's move

on! The base rate could lead to any UK mortgages under 1%. Mortgage --

mortgage rates, should I say. People will be thinking, yes, please! I

think there are some banks where you can get that already, like HSBC, for

those with a 35% deposit, you can get a rate of under 1%. Thanks for

turning all the viewers about that, I don't mind! I think it's good to

be open. I think if the Bank of England cuts at the end of the year,

we should see another fall in mortgage rates. It's clearly good

for first-time buyers and those looking to switch mortgages. So what

is the downside? People might be thinking, I can make those payments,

but if the rates go up, even slightly, then people will get

indebted to a rate they cannot afford. And we are a bit addicted to

cheap money. We expect it always to be cheap and when it goes up, we

will suffer. The idea that money is cheap and you can borrow. Our

parents generation would be horrified. That's right. The big

companies have already got into this, with the impact of

quantitative easing on corporate debt. I think the impact of

quantitative easing on personal debt will have a similar effect. Nice to

see you, James. Are you going to be busy with the Fed decision later

today? Definitely, it will be a full day. Busy day for James, and for the

rest of us! I will be busy not using my fitness tracker! Bye-bye!

Good morning. The mist has arrived, with some dense fog patches across

eastern