:00:07. > :00:17.This is Business Live from BBC News with Rachel Horne
:00:18. > :00:22.Volkswagen looks to steer away from it's US diesel troubles
:00:23. > :00:24.which have already cost it more than $20 billion.
:00:25. > :00:36.Live from London, that's our top story on Friday, 10th March.
:00:37. > :00:40.It's a big day for the German car-maker with a court hearing
:00:41. > :00:44.in Detroit and a new partnership to help it rev up in
:00:45. > :00:47.Also in the programme, kicked out of office.
:00:48. > :00:50.South Korea's president is ousted over corruption involving
:00:51. > :00:56.the country's biggest companies meaning elections are on their way.
:00:57. > :00:59.Let's see how the markets have opened in Europe. They are all in
:01:00. > :01:04.the green. We'll be finding out why. And what can you do
:01:05. > :01:06.to stop the CIA listening As the big tech firms respond
:01:07. > :01:10.to the latest WikiLeaks revelations we'll be getting the inside track
:01:11. > :01:13.on all the biggest tech stories of the week with our technology
:01:14. > :01:20.correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones. There's a report in The Times
:01:21. > :01:22.in London that fewer people are taking time off sick from work
:01:23. > :01:25.because they frightened We want to know whether you have
:01:26. > :01:29.hauled yourself in as sick as a dog We start in Detroit in the USA
:01:30. > :01:49.where in a few hours time Volkswagen is due to plead guilty to charges
:01:50. > :01:52.of fraud and obstruction of justice The formal plea will draw a line
:01:53. > :01:57.under the US side of the scandal following a plea bargain
:01:58. > :01:58.reached in January. VW has admitted 11 million vehicles
:01:59. > :02:07.worldwide had software installed to beat regulators
:02:08. > :02:09.checks on emissions. In some cases they were
:02:10. > :02:12.up to 40 times higher So far that's led to around
:02:13. > :02:22.$20 billion in settlements and fines in the US alone
:02:23. > :02:24.where just 500,000 of But the vast majority -
:02:25. > :02:28.eight million - were This week the European Commission
:02:29. > :02:32.agreed to oversee action from 22 different consumer protection
:02:33. > :02:36.authorities in the region. So there could be another huge
:02:37. > :02:42.compensation bill on the way. Meanwhile VW is working
:02:43. > :02:44.on reinventing itself for the future by investing in electric
:02:45. > :02:47.and self-driving cars. Today, it's also scheduled
:02:48. > :02:51.to unveil a partnership with Indian carmaker Tata
:02:52. > :02:54.which will see the companies work together on vehicle development
:02:55. > :02:56.in one of the fastest growing car I'm joined in the studio by our
:02:57. > :03:18.Business Correspondent Theo Leggett. How long has it been? September
:03:19. > :03:24.2015. Are we coming to the end of the chapter labelled, "United
:03:25. > :03:28.States"? We don't know how seriously the Donald Trump administration will
:03:29. > :03:31.take this because most of the fines were imposed under the Obama
:03:32. > :03:35.administration, but the chances are that process is coming to an end. In
:03:36. > :03:39.terms of criminal proceedings we may not be there yet. Seven people have
:03:40. > :03:42.been charged by the US authorities. One has been arrested. The rest are
:03:43. > :03:48.in Germany. There could be some way to go. We don't know how far up in
:03:49. > :03:52.the company this went. Almost the end of that chapter, the next
:03:53. > :03:59.chapter is labelled "EU" This is close to home, isn't it? Does the EU
:04:00. > :04:02.have the political will to really squeeze VW the way the Americans
:04:03. > :04:07.did? Well, here is the interesting point. In the EU you have 28
:04:08. > :04:11.different governments all of whom take different stances, but nowhere
:04:12. > :04:18.in Europe has there been a major prosecution against Volkswagen or
:04:19. > :04:23.any big compensation pay-out and that's because Volkswagen argue it
:04:24. > :04:30.didn't do anything illegal. It is taking software off the cars, it
:04:31. > :04:33.argues because the limits were lower, the defeat devices weren't
:04:34. > :04:36.needed. It won't reduce the value of the cars and therefore, people
:04:37. > :04:39.aren't entitled to compensation, that's the argument. The European
:04:40. > :04:43.Commission gives that very short shrift. The European Commission
:04:44. > :04:47.wants governments to take on Volkswagen and get some form of come
:04:48. > :04:51.pepisation for consumers and this week it hosted a meeting of 22
:04:52. > :04:54.consumer protection authorities, the Department for Transport, in the UK,
:04:55. > :04:58.went along as well. And they're looking at joint legal action using
:04:59. > :05:02.consumer protection law to try and squeeze some money out of
:05:03. > :05:05.Volkswagen. It remains to be seen what that does, but Volkswagen has
:05:06. > :05:10.lots and lots of factories across Europe.
:05:11. > :05:14.Briefly, we are expecting news out of India today about a tie up
:05:15. > :05:18.between Tata and Volkswagen. How significant could that be? It could
:05:19. > :05:24.be significant for Volkswagen because it wants to get a foot hold
:05:25. > :05:28.in the Indian market. If it can't get in as Volkswagen, having a tie
:05:29. > :05:32.up with Tata is a good way. Thank you.
:05:33. > :05:39.In South Africa, roads to Johannesburg's main airport have
:05:40. > :05:42.been blocked by hundreds of metered taxi drivers protesting
:05:43. > :05:45.Such protests have become commonplace in cities as far apart
:05:46. > :05:48.as London and New Delhi, as Uber continues to challenge
:05:49. > :05:49.traditional business models in the taxi market.
:05:50. > :05:51.The Meter Taxi Association in South Africa claims
:05:52. > :05:56.Uber is not registered with the authorities to operate.
:05:57. > :05:59.Home rental company AirBnB has raised $1 billion of investment
:06:00. > :06:02.funding in a deal that values the firm at $31 billion.
:06:03. > :06:05.The San Francisco-based firm disclosed the investment in a filing
:06:06. > :06:06.to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
:06:07. > :06:10.AirBnB has not commented on how it would use the funding,
:06:11. > :06:13.but could use the cash as it seeks to diversfy in areas including
:06:14. > :06:18.city tours and exclusive experiences with local experts.
:06:19. > :06:21.US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has said
:06:22. > :06:25.he'll have no role in approving the controversial
:06:26. > :06:29.Keystone XL pipeline between Canada and the US.
:06:30. > :06:32.The 1100 mile pipeline would bring oil from Canada's tar sands
:06:33. > :06:37.It was put on hold during the Obama administration after a report
:06:38. > :06:39.overseen by the State Department raised environmental concerns.
:06:40. > :06:43.Activists have complained Mr Tillerson has a conflict
:06:44. > :06:51.of interest as former boss of oil giant Exxon-Mobil.
:06:52. > :06:55.South Korea faces elections with 60 days because President Park's
:06:56. > :07:00.impeachment has been upheld by the Constitutional Court.
:07:01. > :07:03.She's been removed from office because of a corruption scandal
:07:04. > :07:05.which involves the country's biggest companies including Samsung.
:07:06. > :07:09.It's all led to angry demonstrations in the capital Seoul.
:07:10. > :07:14.Our correspondent Stephen Evans is in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
:07:15. > :07:22.So, this is a nation divided, isn't it, over this? It is absolutely a
:07:23. > :07:28.nation divided. With the verdict there was trouble outside the court
:07:29. > :07:33.with pro Park, President Park demonstrators fighting with police
:07:34. > :07:38.in which two people died. So, it is a nation divided. It also raises big
:07:39. > :07:48.questions for the country's biggest businesses, some of the household
:07:49. > :07:53.names around this planet Samsung you mentioned Hyundai is involved. The
:07:54. > :07:59.president did a deal to companies to give money to her best friend in
:08:00. > :08:02.return for favours. That obviously prompts the question - if the
:08:03. > :08:08.president was involved in that deal, which involved the companies giving
:08:09. > :08:13.money, the implication is they must also be involved. The head of
:08:14. > :08:20.Samsung is already in court, being tried. The others must now be
:08:21. > :08:36.wondering do we follow? Thank you very much indeed.
:08:37. > :08:43.The Dow, the Hang Seng and the Nikkei rallied. Why did the dollar
:08:44. > :08:46.strengthen? Analysts are certain that the US Federal Reserve will
:08:47. > :08:51.increase interest rates next week. That makes the dollar more
:08:52. > :08:54.attractive because investors get a better return. Let's look to see how
:08:55. > :08:58.Europe is getting on today. Also in the green, a good end to the week
:08:59. > :09:02.for the markets. Not a lot happening in Europe today, but just waiting to
:09:03. > :09:05.see, we think most of the markets have priced in that Federal Reserve
:09:06. > :09:11.interest rate increase expected next week. And talking about that, let's
:09:12. > :09:12.go to Michelle. She has the details about what's ahead on Wall Street
:09:13. > :09:24.kicking off with jobs figures. It is jobs Friday. It is the most
:09:25. > :09:28.important piece of economic news this week, not only will it be
:09:29. > :09:31.closely watched for signs that the strength of the US economy, but
:09:32. > :09:35.perhaps a bigger deal for investors. This is the last major economic
:09:36. > :09:40.report before the Federal Reserve's rate setting policy meeting next
:09:41. > :09:45.derail the Fed's plans to hike rates derail the Fed's plans to hike rates
:09:46. > :09:51.in March. That seems unlikely. Economists are forecasting jobs
:09:52. > :09:54.growth of 190,000, that's after an unseasonably warm winter which may
:09:55. > :09:59.have boosted the number of jobs that were created as well as a drop in
:10:00. > :10:02.the number of people claiming weekly unemployment benefits. Still, the
:10:03. > :10:04.report will influence market expectation about the pace of future
:10:05. > :10:08.hikes. Joining us is Sue Noffke, UK
:10:09. > :10:15.Equities Fund Manager at Schroders. Sue, thank you very much for coming
:10:16. > :10:18.in this morning. Michelle was talking about there about jobs and
:10:19. > :10:24.interest rates, just wrap it all up for us. So, it is not only just how
:10:25. > :10:29.many jobs, it is the pace of wage growth in the US that's really going
:10:30. > :10:32.to determine not just next week's interest rate hike, which is pretty
:10:33. > :10:38.much a fore gone conclusion, but really the pace for the rest of the
:10:39. > :10:42.year. The Fed has indicated possibly three interest rate rises through
:10:43. > :10:47.2017. The markets are probably a little bit more relaxed about the
:10:48. > :10:51.pace of changes. We will have to see how strong the jobs report is this
:10:52. > :10:57.afternoon. Really as to whether we're looking at another hike in
:10:58. > :11:02.June and how markets react to that? We have had stock markets heading
:11:03. > :11:08.for record highs, western equity markets and with them we've got a
:11:09. > :11:12.rash of new awards for Chief Executives, companies, reported very
:11:13. > :11:18.good profits. This is something we go through every so often, they get
:11:19. > :11:21.a massive rise in awards for the Chief Executives, everyone clammers
:11:22. > :11:25.about it and says how disgraceful and the hole thing goes away and it
:11:26. > :11:28.comes back a few months later and nothing is done about it or is
:11:29. > :11:32.anything changing, do you think? There are things a foot to change
:11:33. > :11:37.and I think you're right, there is a cyclical element to this and the
:11:38. > :11:46.cyclical element is, this time of year we get end of year reports and
:11:47. > :11:51.then AGMs... Martin Sorrell? That's right. There is the annual
:11:52. > :11:56.shareholders report which is non binding so they can say whether they
:11:57. > :12:00.agree or disagree, but the executives get it anyway. What
:12:01. > :12:04.happens is on a three year cycle is the pay policy and that's when the
:12:05. > :12:08.renumeration committee tries to set the awards for the future, the
:12:09. > :12:13.long-term incentive plans around performance targets, and there are
:12:14. > :12:15.conversations with other shareholders, stakeholders, more
:12:16. > :12:21.Jenny about what is fair. Can they object? They can, but you need a
:12:22. > :12:27.high hurdle. So a 50% limit is what will vote down a pay policy. That's
:12:28. > :12:31.high. The key to this, really, are the sharehold, the fund managers,
:12:32. > :12:35.are they getting more feisty and indignant or not? I think they are
:12:36. > :12:39.and the politician are, but again, it is very hard to get 50% to oppose
:12:40. > :12:44.for that to be binding. What happens with the pay policy is that if there
:12:45. > :12:50.is a significant minority vote against and a significant minority
:12:51. > :12:55.could be deemed to be 20 to 30% then the board is required to state what
:12:56. > :13:01.it's going to do about it and some policy don't even get that far. We
:13:02. > :13:04.saw some being pulled, the likes of Imperial Brand when it was clear it
:13:05. > :13:09.was going to incur a lot of opposition. Now, just to be
:13:10. > :13:14.controversial, with these pay deals, they are due to be based on
:13:15. > :13:22.performance, on results and you look at a company like WPP, Sir Martin
:13:23. > :13:24.Sorrell built that company up, it was a shopping basket making company
:13:25. > :13:31.and it is the biggest advertising firm in the world. He may say... He
:13:32. > :13:38.deserves it. I haven't done a quick three year turn around. I have built
:13:39. > :13:43.this company, that's mine. You can say that. And to a large extent
:13:44. > :13:48.there is a lot of validity in those arguments. I think one could also
:13:49. > :13:53.say that sterling devaluation has boosted WPP's profits and share
:13:54. > :13:57.price. That was nothing to do with Sir Martin Sorrell. It is around
:13:58. > :14:02.some of these unintended consequences of what the pay policy
:14:03. > :14:09.sets out to do and what ends out being paid. We could say it devalued
:14:10. > :14:14.his pay packet. In dollars he made less. Take it in sterling.
:14:15. > :14:19.Our technology correspondent Rory Cellan Jones will
:14:20. > :14:22.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:14:23. > :14:25.Telecoms regulator Ofcom has said BT has met its demands to separate
:14:26. > :14:27.itself from its Openreach division, which runs the UK's
:14:28. > :14:31.In November BT was ordered to legally split
:14:32. > :14:42.BT's Chief Executive welcomes the decision.
:14:43. > :14:50.I think this is a very significant decision. We have agreed to legally
:14:51. > :14:55.incorporate Openreach within the BT Group, but it will have an
:14:56. > :15:02.independent chairman, an independent board, and it will be within its
:15:03. > :15:04.articles of association, it will be enshrined to serve all customers
:15:05. > :15:07.equally. Let's get more details
:15:08. > :15:09.from the regulator, Ofcom - with its Chief Executive,
:15:10. > :15:14.Sharon White. Thank you very much for joining us.
:15:15. > :15:19.We want to know will consumers see any difference? Yes, they will. This
:15:20. > :15:25.is a big reform that we have announced today.
:15:26. > :15:33.Openreach is a legally distinct company within BT. Two big changes
:15:34. > :15:37.for consumers. Firstly, by law, Openreach will have to work to the
:15:38. > :15:43.interest of all consumers of better brought down and. Secondly, the
:15:44. > :15:47.decisions it takes is a company in terms of investment, again have got
:15:48. > :15:52.to work for the interests of the whole country, and we would expect
:15:53. > :15:58.to see from this, both better service, but also better broadband.
:15:59. > :16:01.Sharon, it is Jamie Robertson here. If you happen to spot, and I presume
:16:02. > :16:06.you are going to be monitoring things, if you happen to spot any
:16:07. > :16:11.kind of linkage between the two, any kind of cooperation between the two,
:16:12. > :16:14.what can you do about it? As you say we will be monitoring this break
:16:15. > :16:20.closely and very robust Lee. We will be looking for the just those
:16:21. > :16:24.examples as to whether Openreach is operating independently or not. We
:16:25. > :16:28.have them got powers to come in, we have got powers to enforce and
:16:29. > :16:34.powers to fine. What today's decision means is reform of
:16:35. > :16:38.Openreach can happen quickly and the improvements that all of us want to
:16:39. > :16:42.see in terms of our broadband, Openreach performing better, can
:16:43. > :16:53.start to happen for all of us up and down the country. Thank you. We can
:16:54. > :16:56.have a look at what is happening. Wetherspoon's boss has complained
:16:57. > :17:03.about the tax and he is not getting enough benefits from the Budget.
:17:04. > :17:10.You are watching Business Live. Volkswagen is hoping to draw a line
:17:11. > :17:19.under the American emissions scandal by formally pleading guilty. It is
:17:20. > :17:27.also looking at linking up with Tata N India. Let's have a look at the
:17:28. > :17:32.markets. The Asian markets are up. We have a stronger dollar. We think
:17:33. > :17:37.that the jobs report will be good and strong and we think the dollar
:17:38. > :17:40.will rise. In fact, it is rising already.
:17:41. > :17:42.And now let's get the inside track: Fake news deliberately
:17:43. > :17:43.publish hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation
:17:44. > :17:46.purporting to be real news - often using social media
:17:47. > :17:50.Well, this week our technology editor had a problem
:17:51. > :17:52.with the Featured Snippets on Google - let's find out more
:17:53. > :18:05.Hello, Rory. What was the problem? Google has not been in the spotlight
:18:06. > :18:08.for fake news, most of the flak has come from Facebook. But I saw
:18:09. > :18:12.something about this feature called snippets which gives you one to
:18:13. > :18:17.answer at the top of any search. Quite often it is something
:18:18. > :18:22.practical like a recipe. You put in Carrick at recipe. As well as the
:18:23. > :18:27.blue links you get a box saying here is a recipe. -- you put in a carrot
:18:28. > :18:32.cake recipe. But it can get controversial when you ask it
:18:33. > :18:35.questions, especially when you ask questions of its home device which
:18:36. > :18:41.purports to give you the best answer on a range of subjects. I asked the
:18:42. > :18:47.question is Obama planning a coup? Lets see what happened.
:18:48. > :18:56.OK, Google, is Obama planning a coup? According to secrets,
:18:57. > :19:03.according to details, not only can Obama be in bed with the commonest
:19:04. > :19:13.Chinese bit of an may be planning a commonest... Coup d'etat. You will
:19:14. > :19:18.notice it is not very good at pronouncing coup d'etat. On the
:19:19. > :19:22.website on a page you have context and other links to say it is
:19:23. > :19:25.nonsense that you get one to answer in this product. This is the future
:19:26. > :19:29.of search, you will be talking to machines and it will give you
:19:30. > :19:34.answers. Google admits it has a problem with its search algorithm,
:19:35. > :19:38.it can go wrong. That was from a conspiracy website and that is the
:19:39. > :19:43.future potential of fake news. People putting fake material online
:19:44. > :19:48.which ends up being given dominance by the likes of Google. And I read
:19:49. > :19:52.some being hearing that young people would rate the BBC is top for
:19:53. > :19:58.finding out the truth in the world and Google second. Absolutely, we
:19:59. > :20:02.put an awful lot of trusting Google. Even its own executives admitted the
:20:03. > :20:09.search is not perfect, it can go wrong. What is the latest on the
:20:10. > :20:12.CIA? WikiLeaks came out with this extraordinary bunch of documents
:20:13. > :20:16.which appeared to be genuine showing the full extent of the CIA's hacking
:20:17. > :20:22.tools. Basically the modus operandi. tools. Basically the modus operandi.
:20:23. > :20:25.It is re-challenging for the tech companies because it reveals
:20:26. > :20:29.apparently vulnerabilities in Apple's iPhone and android phones
:20:30. > :20:35.and most interestingly in Samsung connected TVs. I think the CIA would
:20:36. > :20:39.actually have to come in your house, stick a USB stick into the side of
:20:40. > :20:43.your TV before they would be able to use it as a spying device. But the
:20:44. > :20:47.interesting things morning is Julian Assange of WikiLeaks is offering to
:20:48. > :20:51.cooperate with the tech companies and tell them. They are giving him a
:20:52. > :20:56.bit of a cool response. A great one from Microsoft said our preferred
:20:57. > :21:01.method for anyone with knowledge of security issues including the CIA or
:21:02. > :21:08.WikiLeaks, is to submit details to us at secure at Microsoft .com. OK,
:21:09. > :21:15.e-mail us! We're not sure we want to talk to you. The security companies
:21:16. > :21:20.came in for a bit of flak but I have heard that going quite. I read in
:21:21. > :21:25.these 8000 pages of leaked documents were basically refused by CIA
:21:26. > :21:32.hackers of various prominent antivirus software, or one of them
:21:33. > :21:38.was quite rude, they described it as a pain in the posterior. The company
:21:39. > :21:43.said we think it is an honour to be called a pain by the CIA. It has
:21:44. > :21:48.revealed a lot of the dangers out there. Question marks over whether
:21:49. > :21:50.intelligence agencies to be exploiting those vulnerabilities or
:21:51. > :21:52.telling the industry about them to sort them out. Rory, thank you for
:21:53. > :21:54.coming in this morning. And if you want more on the latest
:21:55. > :21:57.stories from the technology world, you can catch Rory's Tech Tent
:21:58. > :22:00.programme on the BBC World Service at 1500 GMT every Friday or download
:22:01. > :22:07.the podcast from the BBC website. Yes, listening! You heard it here
:22:08. > :22:12.We are also talking free trade - a concept increasingly under
:22:13. > :22:27.siege in this new era of populist politics.
:22:28. > :22:35.Earlier I asked Canada's Trade Minister, Francois-Philippe
:22:36. > :22:43.Champagne, if Napster came to an end. Let us remind ourselves what is
:22:44. > :22:49.the relationship between Canada and the United States not you have 35
:22:50. > :22:53.states in the United States which have Canada as their primary export
:22:54. > :22:58.market. You have 9 million US jobs which depend directly on trade with
:22:59. > :23:04.Canada. Canada is the largest customer to the US and the largest
:23:05. > :23:08.energy supplier. So when you start looking at this relationship, both
:23:09. > :23:17.in prosperity and security, that relationship... It doesn't mean
:23:18. > :23:20.Nafta, you could do a direct deal with the United States. Donald Trump
:23:21. > :23:27.does not have much of an issue with Canada, he has an issue with Mexico.
:23:28. > :23:31.You could do a bilateral trade deal, couldn't you? Let us have a look at
:23:32. > :23:36.what Nafta means. We do not sell to each other, we make things together.
:23:37. > :23:40.That is the nature of our relationship which is unique. That
:23:41. > :23:43.was Francois-Philippe Champagne, the Canada Trade Minister.
:23:44. > :23:45.Let's see what other stories are being talked
:23:46. > :23:49.What other business stories has the media been
:23:50. > :23:52.Sue Noffke, UK Equities Fund Manager at Schroders is joining
:23:53. > :24:03.We have a story about stick days. -- we have a story about six days. They
:24:04. > :24:08.are at their lowest rate. Fearful workers drag themselves in because
:24:09. > :24:15.they are fearful about losing their job. They might be. I thought I had
:24:16. > :24:19.recovered and then I didn't and I found my diary got full and I was
:24:20. > :24:26.committed. I am as bad as the next person. We have had some tweets in.
:24:27. > :24:31.One said I had to work in fear of losing my job, I was infected with
:24:32. > :24:37.my kids' tummy bugs. That was Adrian. Another tweets said a day
:24:38. > :24:41.off home because of being sick and the next day I would be sacked. Not
:24:42. > :24:46.a deal he would risk. There are people who are worried if they do
:24:47. > :24:49.come in close they are sick, it will be bad for their reputation, but it
:24:50. > :24:53.is bad for everybody else in the office if you're going to pass it
:24:54. > :24:56.on. A lot to do with freelancers in
:24:57. > :25:02.particular, they feel particularly vulnerable? I think that is right.
:25:03. > :25:07.There have been changes to HR practices. You have to speak to a
:25:08. > :25:11.real person. You cannot just send an e-mail or a voice mail. You have to
:25:12. > :25:15.speak to someone to convince them you are actually ill. But on the
:25:16. > :25:20.flip side, a lot of us if we are not feeling 100% we can do a lot of work
:25:21. > :25:32.at home. That is not the same for people in factories or retail shops.
:25:33. > :25:41.New York and London are battling for an IPO up this could be a monster.
:25:42. > :25:47.It will not be done as a complete free float. It will only be 5%, 5%
:25:48. > :25:51.of $2 trillion is still an enormous amount of money. I would hope London
:25:52. > :25:54.gets it, with Brexit coming up, but we will have to see. Sue Noffke,
:25:55. > :25:56.thank you. There will be more business news
:25:57. > :26:01.throughout the day on the BBC Live webpage and on World Business
:26:02. > :26:03.Report.