:00:00. > :00:07.This is Business Live from BBC News with Rachael Horne
:00:08. > :00:17.yep a cash pile twice the size of the US economy - hidden offshore.
:00:18. > :00:20.So the question is what can be done to tackle the tax dodgers?
:00:21. > :00:22.Live from London, that's our top story
:00:23. > :00:44.Clawing back what they are owed, governments and campaigners
:00:45. > :00:48.will today sit down for a major pow wow to discuss how they can get back
:00:49. > :00:50.the trillions of dollars in tax revenue that's been
:00:51. > :01:03.Also in the programme, South Korea's parliament has voted
:01:04. > :01:07.the capital for the latest on this developing story.
:01:08. > :01:09.On the markets another day another record -
:01:10. > :01:13.a record close on wall street - a record high on the
:01:14. > :01:15.Nikkei - and in europe the markets are up.
:01:16. > :01:18.And we'll be getting the inside track on the biggest
:01:19. > :01:20.financial stories of the moment, with our Economics Correspondent
:01:21. > :01:35.Andrew Walker, including that long talked about Fed rate rise.
:01:36. > :01:44.Come January United will charge you to put your carry on bag in the
:01:45. > :01:47.overhead locker. Do you think the difference between full-service and
:01:48. > :01:57.budget carriers is blurring? Get in touch.
:01:58. > :02:00.We are talking tax - and why many big businesses
:02:01. > :02:03.and wealthy people seem to pay so little of it.
:02:04. > :02:06.Today politicians from all round the world are in London
:02:07. > :02:07.for a Global Tax Transparency Summit.
:02:08. > :02:09.They'll be discussing how to promote tax transparency
:02:10. > :02:22.According to the Tax Justice Network, as much as $36 trillion
:02:23. > :02:28.That's twice the GDP - of the world's biggest
:02:29. > :02:39.In other words - double the value of all the goods and services
:02:40. > :02:46.It's not just about tax evasion - but also legal tax avoidance.
:02:47. > :02:49.Bloomberg estimates that US companies have stashed $2.1 trillion
:02:50. > :02:52.in profits overseas as part of a perfectly legal operation
:02:53. > :03:14.On Thursday McDonald's said it's moving its non-US tax base
:03:15. > :03:17.from Luxembourg to the UK due to the "significant number of staff"
:03:18. > :03:21.But there's more to it than that The Luxembourg tax affairs
:03:22. > :03:23.of the fast food giant are under formal investigation
:03:24. > :03:27.It says McDonalds has paid no corporate tax in the city state
:03:28. > :03:28.despite booking profits worth hundreds of millions
:03:29. > :03:44.Alex Cobham is the chief executive of the Tax Justice Network. That
:03:45. > :03:52.figure, $36 trillion, that is monumental. It would be the world's
:03:53. > :03:56.biggest economy. You need to think about the income and revenues we are
:03:57. > :04:01.forgoing every year in countries all around the world to understand why
:04:02. > :04:03.this is such a big problem. The services we are losing, the
:04:04. > :04:15.inequality we are suffering because that income is not being taxed as it
:04:16. > :04:20.should be. After back -- after McDonald's is moving its operations
:04:21. > :04:26.from Luxembourg to the UK, is that a sign that the tide is turning?
:04:27. > :04:31.Public opinion and outrages working? The EU is changing its attitudes?
:04:32. > :04:36.Things are moving, but moving slowly. We are still lacking the
:04:37. > :04:41.kind of transparency that would allow us to know that McDonald's are
:04:42. > :04:46.declaring profits in the places where they are doing business. The
:04:47. > :04:49.OECD requires multinationals to report on a country by country
:04:50. > :04:56.basis. The activities and profits they are making. We need that in the
:04:57. > :05:01.public domain, so the public can see that McDonald's are playing fairly
:05:02. > :05:08.UK is not playing the same UK is not playing the same
:05:09. > :05:13.Luxembourg is playing, in order to take profits from elsewhere and not
:05:14. > :05:16.tax them. What needs to be done to change the situation, we talked
:05:17. > :05:27.about the President-elect talking about an amnesty, bringing all that
:05:28. > :05:35.offshore revenue back in, and then charging at a reduced rate. That is
:05:36. > :05:47.based on a flawed understanding. 90% of US companies profits were shifted
:05:48. > :05:53.offshore -- 19%. That is up to 25%. This is not a problem that the
:05:54. > :05:55.effective tax rates are too high. That is a problem that
:05:56. > :06:01.multinationals realise it is optional to pay tax. Lowering the
:06:02. > :06:05.tax rate will not stop that. We need transparency that makes it obvious
:06:06. > :06:11.and allows the consumers and citizens to vote with their feet.
:06:12. > :06:13.Are you going to the summit? Absolutely, I think we will get some
:06:14. > :06:17.great action today. South Korean parliament has voted
:06:18. > :06:19.to impeach President Park over There have been mass rallies every
:06:20. > :06:23.Saturday for the past six weeks calling for Park to quit,
:06:24. > :06:26.and opinion polls show overwhelming Let's cross to Steve
:06:27. > :06:42.Evans, who's in Seoul. The vote goes to the highest court
:06:43. > :06:48.in the land, basically the parliament, saying we wrote that she
:06:49. > :06:52.should be sacked. The highest court in the land accepts the vote, and
:06:53. > :06:58.has its own investigation, looking at the matter. And we'll either say,
:06:59. > :07:05.we agree with you over some months, or implement the sacking, in plain
:07:06. > :07:12.language. In the meantime, President Park seizes to have any power. --
:07:13. > :07:18.ceases to have any power. She remains president, but all the power
:07:19. > :07:22.passes to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is talking about the
:07:23. > :07:30.uncertainty. Saying the military needs to be on heightened alert in
:07:31. > :07:33.case Kim Jong-Un in North Korea decides to press the situation
:07:34. > :07:53.because of the uncertainties of power here. Check out our website.
:07:54. > :08:00.Japan going bananas for Fife. The Irish -based fruit distributor, sold
:08:01. > :08:15.to a huge Japanese conglomerate for 751 million euros. About $800
:08:16. > :08:27.million. Bananas are big. Supplying one in three bananas in Japan. Also
:08:28. > :08:30.the King of the banana. Let's touch on some of the other big stories.
:08:31. > :08:33.Australia has given approval for the sale of the country's
:08:34. > :08:38.largest private land-holding, the Kidman estate.
:08:39. > :08:47.It's being bought by Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart,
:08:48. > :08:49.and her business partner, Chinese developer Shanghai Cred.
:08:50. > :08:52.The estate makes up about 1.3% of all Australian land
:08:53. > :08:56.and is about the size of South Korea.
:08:57. > :09:01.The sale has been halted several times due to concerns
:09:02. > :09:10.Concerns about Chinese buying land in Australia.
:09:11. > :09:13.The US government says it will investigate whether the planned
:09:14. > :09:15.sale of an almost 20% stake in Russia's biggest oil company
:09:16. > :09:19.The Swiss based commodities trader Glencore and Qatar's soverign wealth
:09:20. > :09:24.fund are supposed to buy 19.5% of Rosneft in a deal the Kremlin has
:09:25. > :09:30.presented as proof foreign investors are still interested in Russia.
:09:31. > :09:32.Wholesale prices in China have surged at the fastest
:09:33. > :09:37.The Producer Price Index - that tracks the cost of goods
:09:38. > :09:40.as they leave the factory - was up 3.3 per cent in November,
:09:41. > :09:57.They were driven by the rising cost of commodities like coal and steel.
:09:58. > :10:07.Record closes on Wall Street yesterday.
:10:08. > :10:19.The Dow was up. Let's look ahead to Europe.
:10:20. > :10:22.In Europe, one of the biggest factors impacting on the markets
:10:23. > :10:24.is the European Central Bank's decision to extend its bond-buying
:10:25. > :10:27.programme until at least December 2017, but cut its purchases by E20bn
:10:28. > :10:34.a month - could that spark another taper tantrum?
:10:35. > :10:36.And Samira Hussain has the details about what's ahead
:10:37. > :10:41.The University of Michigan's consumer survey is out on Friday.
:10:42. > :10:43.This is important because two thirds of the US economy depends
:10:44. > :10:46.on consumer spending, so just how confident Americans feel
:10:47. > :10:48.will really influence how much they spend.
:10:49. > :10:52.The expectation is that consumer sentiment will be up
:10:53. > :10:57.and this comes off the heels of a six-month high
:10:58. > :11:04.signs that people are feeling increasingly good about
:11:05. > :11:10.In earnings news, the maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo
:11:11. > :11:17.BRP is expected to report a rise in profits, as the company has been
:11:18. > :11:22.Investors will be looking for the company to comment
:11:23. > :11:29.I can imagine that would be a fun company to work for.
:11:30. > :11:31.Joining us is Richard Fletcher, Business Editor
:11:32. > :11:53.Good morning. They can hear you. This rally at Wall Street. One day
:11:54. > :12:08.after another. Last night in Japan, the McKay went over 19,000. -- the
:12:09. > :12:12.Nikkei. Looks like we will get to the magic number before the end of
:12:13. > :12:23.the year. Is it the Santa Claus rally for the Trump hump? Apparently
:12:24. > :12:28.the technology stocks could be in trouble next year. It is the
:12:29. > :12:35.infrastructure stocks. Goldman Sachs up 32% since the election. The Dow
:12:36. > :12:40.up 12%. Nasdaq only eight. There are winners and losers. All driven by
:12:41. > :12:48.that positive sentiment what they might think Trump may do. We have a
:12:49. > :12:53.dead on search for a rate rise, the stocks should be nervous, they
:12:54. > :12:58.shrugging it off. You have to be brave to bet against the market,
:12:59. > :13:06.even though it looks quite fragile. Why would the markets be nervous
:13:07. > :13:13.about interest rate rise? Companies, the cost of capital will increase,
:13:14. > :13:18.therefore you would find markets a bit nervous. You will come back and
:13:19. > :13:22.take us through the papers. Some good stories.
:13:23. > :13:29.Next week could be a big one for this lady, Janet Yellen.
:13:30. > :13:31.She is expected to announce a rise in US interest rates.
:13:32. > :13:33.We're going to be discussing that and much much more
:13:34. > :13:35.with our Economics Correspondent Andrew Walker.
:13:36. > :13:39.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:13:40. > :13:41.30 trade associations representing the whole of the UK's
:13:42. > :13:46.food and drink industry have joined forces to make the case
:13:47. > :13:48.for continued access to EU workers post-Brexit.
:13:49. > :13:51.In a letter published in the Guardian, they argue that EU
:13:52. > :13:56.workers play an important role in the supply chain and some
:13:57. > :14:05.Our Business Correspondent, Theo Leggett, has all the details.
:14:06. > :14:17.Is this scaremongering? Serious stuff. The industry is genuinely
:14:18. > :14:25.worried. 30 trade organisations, the National Farmers' Union, the British
:14:26. > :14:32.Retail Consortium. Food and Drink Federation. I don't think this is a
:14:33. > :14:36.blast. They rely on seasonal workers, they have a big pool of
:14:37. > :14:39.potential employees from the European Union, skilled and
:14:40. > :14:43.unskilled. They are saying, we know we are leaving the European Union,
:14:44. > :14:48.you have to think about the impact it will have on our industry. If
:14:49. > :14:52.we're not able to access this pool of very useful workers, food and
:14:53. > :14:58.drink prices will rise, the industry will suffer. How many employees are
:14:59. > :15:04.we talking about, EU workers working in these industries? As a whole, it
:15:05. > :15:12.employs about four million people. A large proportion are seasonal
:15:13. > :15:16.workers for work from the European Union. If these people cannot get in
:15:17. > :15:19.there may be a shortage. The industry is asking for an
:15:20. > :15:24.unambiguous reassurance from the government that EU workers that are
:15:25. > :15:29.here can stay. Longer term, recognition that EU workers provide
:15:30. > :15:33.an essential reservoir of skilled and unskilled labour. A commitment
:15:34. > :15:37.from the government that if work permits are introduced, there is a
:15:38. > :15:40.point system, the food industry must be treated equally with the
:15:41. > :15:46.financial sector and the automotive sector. Not place at a disadvantage,
:15:47. > :15:48.and they can still get hold of the workers they need. Great stuff. Have
:15:49. > :16:02.a great weekend. Here is a quick look at what we have
:16:03. > :16:05.got on our live page. Here is something on crowdfunding, which has
:16:06. > :16:09.been successful very quickly and there are not many rules. The
:16:10. > :16:13.Financial Conduct Authority are setting out new rules to protect
:16:14. > :16:16.people who are in the crowdfunding market.
:16:17. > :16:24.You're watching Business Live - our top story:
:16:25. > :16:30.A global tax summit is taking place in London today,
:16:31. > :16:33.aimed at trying to work out how to claw back the trillions
:16:34. > :16:34.of dollars that have been parked overseas.
:16:35. > :17:00.A quick look at how markets are faring...
:17:01. > :17:05.And now let's get the inside track on the ECB saying it
:17:06. > :17:07.will extend its bond-buying programme until at least
:17:08. > :17:18.December 2017 as it kept interest rates unchanged.
:17:19. > :17:23.The E80bn a month quantitative easing scheme had been
:17:24. > :17:25.due to end in March, although the bank had been
:17:26. > :17:27.expected to extend it for at least six months.
:17:28. > :17:44.This is known as the taper, and we mention the taper tantrum. Well, the
:17:45. > :17:49.markets seem uncertain. We firstly had the euro rising. Then it fell
:17:50. > :17:53.back, suggesting that maybe it was not a tapering. Mario Draghi, the
:17:54. > :17:59.European Central Bank president, hates the word. He remembers the US
:18:00. > :18:01.taper tantrum, which was when the Fed started indicating that it was
:18:02. > :18:05.going to start slowing down its quantitative easing programme, its
:18:06. > :18:11.purchase of bonds in the financial markets. The dollar rose sharply and
:18:12. > :18:17.we had serious turbulence affecting some of the emerging markets, with
:18:18. > :18:20.money flowing back to the US. Clearly, Mario Draghi wants to avoid
:18:21. > :18:26.that kind of turbulence affecting the euro particularly because if
:18:27. > :18:28.anything equivalent happened and you saw money flowing into the Eurozone,
:18:29. > :18:33.you would see the currency strengthening, and he does not want
:18:34. > :18:36.that to happen. You can interpret the policy statement either way.
:18:37. > :18:47.They are continuing the programme for longer than they had previously
:18:48. > :18:52.indicated. On balance, it means they will be spending more money than
:18:53. > :19:04.they had previously committed to do. More than half $1 trillion. You
:19:05. > :19:09.mentioned that the euro reacted at first because they thought I would
:19:10. > :19:17.be some tapering. Do they want to see Europe being weaned off this?
:19:18. > :19:22.This is like a drug. It is not sustainable or realistic to have all
:19:23. > :19:25.this cheap money. I think what the markets and policymakers want is to
:19:26. > :19:29.be satisfied that the Eurozone economy is strong enough to be
:19:30. > :19:35.weaned off. Once out in that position, they would love to see,
:19:36. > :19:42.but the ECB and Mario Draghi himself would love to see the Eurozone being
:19:43. > :19:46.strong. It will take a lot longer. Let's talk about oil. We have Opec's
:19:47. > :19:52.agreement last week. We have another meeting this weekend. Opec did
:19:53. > :19:57.manage to agree, somewhat to people's surprise, that it would cut
:19:58. > :20:01.production for the first time in many years. But this was conditional
:20:02. > :20:07.on a commitment from non-OPEC countries to make a cut of 600,000,
:20:08. > :20:12.half of what Opec was committing to do. Yes, Russia had already made a
:20:13. > :20:15.commitment to provide half of that non-OPEC cut, but at this meeting
:20:16. > :20:19.this weekend, they will be discussing with other members
:20:20. > :20:22.including Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, Mexico, Oman and several others
:20:23. > :20:27.whether they will also make some contribution. It has been quite
:20:28. > :20:31.striking as markets have taken different views of how likely some
:20:32. > :20:35.sort of deal is and the price of oil has moved up and down, but it is
:20:36. > :20:38.still comfortably above the levels it was at before the Opec meeting,
:20:39. > :20:45.when they made this provisional agreement. But isn't it the case
:20:46. > :20:47.that it is one thing for Opec members or non-OPEC members to say
:20:48. > :20:54.we will do it, and actually doing it? Yeah, there are always issues
:20:55. > :20:59.over whether members comply with their run commitment and implement
:21:00. > :21:01.the cuts they have made. But clearly, the financial markets think
:21:02. > :21:05.there is a decent chance of at least some of the members doing it, in
:21:06. > :21:11.particular the big one, Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have had a big
:21:12. > :21:14.change of strategy. They were thought to be wanting to do a lot of
:21:15. > :21:19.harm to the American shale industry by keeping prices low. Looks like
:21:20. > :21:27.they have given up on that. Let's talk about the Fed. We are expecting
:21:28. > :21:34.interest rates to rise. How much by? Most likely by a quarter of a
:21:35. > :21:36.percentage point. They have a target band for this market rate that banks
:21:37. > :21:44.charge one another for overnight lending. The expectation is that the
:21:45. > :21:47.top and bottom of that band will rise by a quarter of a percentage
:21:48. > :21:57.point. But some think it could be a larger rivals. Like half of 1%? That
:21:58. > :22:01.would be a shock. It probably will not be that, but the fact that some
:22:02. > :22:05.people are even thinking in those terms is an indication of how the US
:22:06. > :22:10.economy is doing relatively well. The labour market is pretty strong.
:22:11. > :22:14.Unemployment is down 4.6%. There are still a lot of people who are not
:22:15. > :22:20.active in the labour market who could come back into it, so perhaps
:22:21. > :22:24.things are not as strong as that headline figure suggests. But it is
:22:25. > :22:28.a striking contrast with Europe, where the unemployment rate is 9.8%
:22:29. > :22:34.and around 20% in a couple of countries. Have a good weekend.
:22:35. > :22:37.In a moment, we'll take a look through the business pages
:22:38. > :22:47.but first, here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us.
:22:48. > :22:56.keep you up to date with insights from the BBC's editors around the
:22:57. > :23:06.world. And we want you to get involved too. You can find us
:23:07. > :23:11.online, on Twitter and Facebook. Business life, on TV and online,
:23:12. > :23:15.whenever you need to know. -- Business Live.
:23:16. > :23:17.What other business stories has the media been
:23:18. > :23:20.Richard Fletcher, Business Editor of The Times
:23:21. > :23:28.Australia has been a contentious deal, but the government have
:23:29. > :23:33.approved the sale of this large chunk of land the sound -- size of
:23:34. > :23:38.South Korea to Gina Reinhard, but also the Chinese partner, which is
:23:39. > :23:42.the controversial part. So Australia supplies all the raw materials for
:23:43. > :23:46.China's infrastructure, and now we are going to feed them. It is
:23:47. > :23:51.intriguing. The size, for a little Brit like me, is difficult to even
:23:52. > :23:57.contemplate. 300,000 head of cattle. It is huge! Obviously, you will know
:23:58. > :24:02.it has been controversial in Australia because of the whole idea
:24:03. > :24:06.of Chinese control etc, so they have got a minority stake and the
:24:07. > :24:10.Australian partner appears to have control of the board, which appears
:24:11. > :24:20.to have kept people happy. The size of it is immense. It is bigger than
:24:21. > :24:26.Ireland. It is 2.5% of Australia's agricultural land. It is massive.
:24:27. > :24:29.The controversies about China owning too much land in Australia. I wonder
:24:30. > :24:35.if this paves the way for other deals to be done with China
:24:36. > :24:39.partners. Australia does need agricultural land to feed a lot of
:24:40. > :24:44.people. Although interestingly, beef was not part of the Chinese diet.
:24:45. > :24:45.Neither was ice cream, but they are the second biggest consumers of ice
:24:46. > :25:10.cream in the world! Let's move on. As we were discussing earlier, oil
:25:11. > :25:14.prices have been putting all year. The airline industry has had eight
:25:15. > :25:19.years in the black, so they have had a good time. There is that joke, if
:25:20. > :25:30.you want to turn a large fortune into a small fortune, by an airline.
:25:31. > :25:44.It is slightly more bumpy. There is a bit of turbulence ahead.
:25:45. > :25:49.Richard Fletcher, always a pleasure. Have a great weekend. See you again
:25:50. > :26:13.next week. Bye-bye. We have some cooler weather to
:26:14. > :26:17.arrive this weekend, but today will be another mild day. We have the
:26:18. > :26:18.wind is coming in from the south