07/08/2017 BBC Business Live

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

Prosecutors in South Korea demand a twelve-year prison sentence

That is our top story, live from London.

Before his arrest, Jay Y Lee was gearing up to take over Samsung.

He's now accused of bribing the country's former

President and could face more than a decade in jail.

Also in the programme, turning off the taps with 50

dollar oil the new normal, are we in line for another

Opec meets today. Asian markets are rising strongly off the back of that

in good jobs News from the US. This is what Europe is doing in the first

half hour of trading. We speak to the head of one

of the world's oldest private exploration firms about keeping

the lights on around the globe. And as New York based

company WeWork annoucne a $500m expansion in Asia -

let us know what do you love They very warm welcome. A lot to get

through, including things you like or maybe do not like about the state

of your office with the news that WeWork is expanding.

Prosecutors in South Korea are demanding a twelve-year prison

sentence for the heir to the Samsung business empire.

Samsung covers all sorts of businesses, a conglomerate made up

of different entities and is caught in the midst of a huge corruption

allegation. the prosecution said

he was the ultimate The corruption scandal brought down

the country's former President. All sorts of details have emerged as

part of the trial. Sarah Toms is in Singapore

with the latest. Good to see you. The prosecutors

deliberated most of today and came up with this 12 year prison

sentence. Tell us more. South Korean

prosecutors have been wrapping up closing arguments in a lengthy

trial. This is in the trial of Samsun Electronics and prosecutors

seek a 12 year jail term for the acting head, Jay Y Lee. He and other

Samsung officials have been charged with offering more than $38 million

to the President and her friend in exchange for support of a merger

between two Samsung subsidiaries. The president was removed from

office this year and is herself on trial. Mr Jay Y Lee denied bribery

and embezzlement charges. The court ruling is not expected until late

August. Which is when his arrest warrant is finished. The trial,

above all, has put the issue of family control and big business

under the spotlight. South Korea's newly elected president promises to

bring in measures that could weaken their power. That is the big

question in terms of how this will play out on whether we will see Jay

Y Lee behind bars or not. Previously in years gone by, those

running Samsun, they have been charged with various elements and

were pardoned in the past and that is kind of how it used to roll.

That is right. It is a surprise it is 12 years. From what I understood,

they were thinking it would be more like five years, depending on how

many charges. It just shows that the government means business over this.

The big companies with so much power. They want to sort of stop

this from happening, a repeat of this scandal, which basically has

been on the headlines of every country in the world. Sarah, thank

you. So much to discuss as far as that story is concerned. South

Korea's society, and the relationship with government.

Another story we are watching. Oil prices continuing to fall and Opec

is meeting. For most of us a lower oil

price is a good thing. But for the countries that sell oil

lower prices is a real headache. What can Opec do, the 14 leading

producers? They have been trying to push up prices.

Today and tomorrow they're meeting in Abu Dhabi.

Amrita Sen is chief oil analyst at the independent research

We have talked about this a lot, can they raise prices, Opec, and they

hope to? I think the meeting is more about compliance, which has been

slipping and some of the usual offenders, Iraq... When you talk

about compliance is whether countries are meeting the production

levels. Everybody talks about Iraq not complying and wanting to raise

production, some of the offenders on the list are like UAE, they have

always been good about meeting targets. I think that is why Opec

wants to say, let's come back together and see what we can do. If

you do not comply, what are the consequences? That is the problem,

there is not something that will say you will be kicked out of Opec,

these are the costs, which is why Opec is tricky. If you can't, I

always have an incentive to not do as much is required because I hope

prices will go up because of the result of your clock. The price of

oil is not going up. I got back from Houston last week and shale is

definitely growing will grow strongly but I do not think shale is

growing as much as more people feared. One of the things that came

out was the gas to oil ratio is rising a lot. For every well you

complete you are getting more gas now than oil. Some of that fear will

probably subside. Right now, demand is phenomenal at these prices and

one of the things you are seeing is it is a tighter market and the

curves are flattening. It didn't is falling at a rate of 1 million

barrels per day so it is happening. -- inventory is. That is why they

cannot catch up. And the disparity between the watch country needs what

prices to do with budget, where they will balance the budget. The list is

long and in Venezuela, they need $120. Saudi Arabia probably find

that 60s and 70s. We probably should not have double standards because in

the west we do not balance our budget, so why should they have to

balance the budget? What is important they are running through

the foreign currency reserves which they need to replenish. They are

packed to the dollar and need revenues. They will be fine, some of

the GCC countries, not Venezuela and Iraq. Thanks for your perspective.

Don't hold your breath for any big announcements from Opec but if there

are, we will let you know. We have the debate on prices but

they wanted as high as possible, so it makes them the most money.

Keep it simple with Ben Thompson! Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news: One of the world's largest providers

of shared working space, WeWork, says it will invest $500m to expand

in Southeast Asia and South Korea. The New York based firm is one

of a growing number that provide flexible working spaces and offices

used by freelancers, That is the Twitter question, get in

touch about your work environment. Staff at Google have been caught up

in a row about the company's gender It started when a male software

engineer wrote that the firm needs to "stop assuming that

gender gaps imply sexism". Many of his colleagues have been

critical of the statement Google's head of diversity said

diversity and inclusion are very South Korea says North Korea has

rejected an offer to talk - to calm tensions over

its nuclear programme. This weekend, the UN

Security Council passed a resolution banning North Korean exports

and limiting investments Within the last hour,

North Korea has criticised the blockade and vowed to take

what it calls "righteous action". Shares in Asia were higher

at the start of the week - after those strong jobs numbers

in the US. That's provided some relief

for investors over the outlook Well, the dollar jumped to a one

year high against the yen, that, In Europe it's a quiet day

for corporate earnings and economic data -

with holidays across the continent. If you're not on holiday we'll talk

more about all you need to know - in a moment, but first

Samira Hussain has the details Earnings continue this week

with media companies like Time, That's the parent company

to the social media app, Snapchat Now since the company went public

in March of this year, its share price has hit some

all time lows. Investors are worried

about the company's ability to continue to grow its user base

and still make money. But first, on Monday,

the world's biggest hotel chain, It seems more travel

is happening in the US, its biggest market,

and that will help lift the Marriott, like its hotel industry

peers, is really benefiting from an improved business sentiment

following Donald Trump's election Joining us is Jessica

Ground from Schroders. Give us your take on this week, a

funny time of year and yet there seems to be quite a bit going on

with markets bubbling up. Valuations are high. The data is showing a

sustained although not dramatic global economic recovery. Volatility

is low. We know when we look at past summers when everything like this

looks fantastic, things can come to disrupt. People are feeling more

relaxed. It does not mean you cannot have strange events. What could

disrupt? Geopolitical is probably the one most likely. We have been

talking about tensions with North Korea. The Middle East. Opec and all

prices will be another area to watch. Both Brexit and the Trump.

People have learned to live with uncertainty on that. We are at the

point where markets are pumped up, will they stay there until people

come back in September? What we have heard is a narrow leadership of the

market with tech companies on stretched valuations. Other parts of

the market look less stretch. The thing that has happened this summer

is it feels like rate rises are kicked into the long grass, further

into the future, and that is important because with interest

rates low, it gives room for equity markets to move up high. I would not

say everybody will come back in September and panic, but I think

companies with high valuations will have to justify them with great.

Lovely to see you. Still lots more to come.

We take a look at the cost of delivery around the world,

starting in Turkey which has the highest rate of

You're with Business Live from BBC News.

Britons could obtain more control over what happens to personal

information under new government proposals later today.

People will be able to ask for personal data, or information

posted when they were children, to be deleted.

Theo Leggett is in our Business newsroom.

This is fascinating, the idea that adults could complain about what was

posted when they were children. It shows the internet age coming of

age. Because the data protection rules have not kept up with

development of technology. This bill is based on the EU's data protection

regulations that comes into force next year and coming into force

quickly and the UK bill will make sure the same rules stay in place

after we leave the EU probably in 2019. The point is, the data

protection regulations at the moment were designed in the days before a

company could gain information on who you are, where you live, what

shopping you like, what places you visit, because you carry a mobile

phone and they can store information and use it for marketing purposes.

These proposals are designed to give people a certain amount of control

back, such as people who posted things as children will be able to

ask for that to be deleted and will have to give explicit consent to

giving away information. At the moment it is often a tick box at the

foot of a website or pages of terms and conditions and people do not

really know what they are signing up to and the idea with this is people

will have to give clear consent to data being used and people

collecting it will have to say why they are collecting it. Our company

is prepared? Some of them are, business groups say companies are

starting to get used to the idea but many are not used to it and since

the first stage, the EU regulation comes into force next year, they

will have to hurry up. Because this regulation gives the Information

Commissioner's office figure teeth, and they will be able to fine up to

?20 million or 4% of a company's turnover, which ever is the greatest

and at the moment the biggest fine is ?500,000. It is a big change and

penalties are harsh. A story about pre-payment energy

price cap will be tightened according to Ofgem. All the details

are on the Business Live page. Our top story: Posecutors

in South Korea are demanding a 12 year prison

sentence for the heir to the Samsung business empire,

Lee Jae-yong. This case has been rumbling for a

long time, but 12 years is what the prosecution are calling for.

A quick look at how markets are faring.

In Europe we have been going for 15 minutes. Higher. Perhaps markets

taking a breather following a couple of weeks of so much news in terms of

earnings news from companies all over the world. So, a chance to just

take stock now. The markets are having their summer

holidays, I think, not us, we're still here.

Its highs and its lows, but what about gas?

Well, one of the world's oldest private gas and oil exploration

firms in the Middle East is Crescent Petroleum.

It was set-up in 1971 in the United Arab Emirates.

While its first wells were for oil, it was an early adopter of natural

gas, signing its first gas supply contract in 1985.

Its total output now exceeds 125,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day

and it's looking to expand into both North Africa and Iraq.

Its gas deliveries help to provide electricity

for four million people in northern Iraq.

Majid Jafar is the Chief Executive of Crescent Petroleum,

Welcome to Business Live. Nice to see you. Now, you've met before,

haven't you? I have, when I was based out in Dubai with our other

programme Middle East Business Report. We talked at the time about

this push elsewhere because everyone imagines the Gulf as the place of

oil and gas, but it is not only about exploring and extract, but it

is making it useful. Expansion into North Africa and parts of Iraq and

Iraq is the one that's got the oil and gas itself, but the difficulty

and clearly after the war is getting it out of the ground. It is

investment in infrastructure. How do you play a part in that? So as

companies from the region, we take a different look at the risks. We take

a long-term view and we try and different ate ourselves on

understanding what the real local market needs are and trying to

address them rather than focussing on export and by being nimble and

partnering well with companies from the outside and delivering on

projects cost effectively and time, which is key, and our region as a

whole has half the world's oil and gas, but less than a third of the

world's oil production and less than a sixth of the world's gas

production so we're punching way below our weight. You talk about the

region. It was described to me once that UAE is a real safe street in a

really dodgy neighbourhood. When you talk about that long-term view of

investment, how do you do it in a region that is notoriously

unpredictable? Our problems aren't below the ground. We have the lowest

cost of production above the ground. You mentioned budget issues, but we

have got in some countries wars, instability, payment issues or

respect for contract, fiscal terms and then overall policy. There are

many countries in the region where there is a national oil company with

a monopoly and little room for the private sector, but that's starting

to change now. Something else as well that you really want to see

change is social and economic development within the Arab world as

it were and you're doing a lot of work with young people in particular

and the issue of youth unemployment which is the highest in the region,

isn't it, worldwide? Our biggest natural res source is our young

population, not the oil and gas. Oil and gas employs less and less

because it is becoming more and more hi-tech. We need to create 100

million jobs over the next two decades across the Middle East and

North Africa. We have 30% as an average youth unemployment and we

need more private sector investment and education and skills that match

the needs of the private sector because the governments can't keep

employing the young people anymore. Female empowerment, you have got two

daughters aged one and three and that's something you want to see a

shift in? It is critical as a moral and social issue if we have got the

lowest female in Parliament. That leads to higher birth rates which

means we can't catch up with the employment issue. You have just sort

of intertwined nearly everything we've talked about in our programme

today. Thank you for coming in. We'd love to talk to you for longer, but

we haven't got the time in this programme. So many issues.

This week we're looking at the Business of Birth

Around the globe, caesarean section rates have increased dramatically,

even as a large amount of them are not medically required.

Whilst the average rate is 28% amongst OECD countries,

in Turkey more than half of babies are born by C-section.

At this hospital, eight babies are born today.

C-sections are rather popular in Turkey.

Over 50% of babies are born not by natural birth,

That rate is the highest amongst OECD countries.

But why do so many expecting mothers go through these operations?

The increase in C-sections are due to the rise in first births among

older women and multiple births resulting from the IVF treatment,

treatment, but all of these Caesareans medically justified?

Five years ago, Turkey adopted a law making it the first country

to punish elective Caesarean sections, but it has one

of the highest rates of C-section among developed economies.

Doctors say the reason for that are many,

We don't earn more than when we do C-section as a cln i, as a doctor.

The hospitals, yes, maybe, of course. But they don't push the

doctors. Most Turkish women these days hope

to give birth naturally, but of course, things don't always go

according to plan. We will have more reports from

around the world in our business of birth series. Dominic O'Connell

joined us. Good morning by the way. There will be all sorts of articles

marking the tenth anniversary of the credit crisis. Ten years? Ten

yearsment people put it down to the failure of two hedge funds that were

run by a French bank, but you could really actually put it down to any

number of dates in 2007 and in January and February, HSBC warned

about lending in the US from its Household Division and then in June,

a bank closed two hedge funds. That could be another anniversary date

the all the articles say, there were loads of warning signs, we knew it

was comingment nobody did. Very few people, lots of people thought there

were problems with individual institutions and individual funds,

but not many people, some people did, but not many people said the

system is on the vrge of collapse. So ten years on and we've had

results from Lloyds and from RBS and others from Barclays and HSBC, it is

so interesting when you see they are still paying the price? Particularly

in the case of RBS and Lloyds, still paying for payment prosteks and

Libor. RBS have got a giant fine to come from the US authorities in its

role in packaging up the loans for the US housing scandal. Ten years

on, the reckoning is still to come. How important to you is your work

environment? Very important actually. The reason I get up every

morning! But we're talking about a service offered to office workers.

Is it a new version of Regis? It is very trendy. It is very of the

moment. All right. Let's talk about what you think about this. Conrad,

"I love the modern glass offices like mine are so light." I can't say

we have the same experience. Another viewer says, "I hate people eating

their smelly lunch at their desk. It's disgusting." Have a really

good. See you soon. Bye-bye. Hi there. Good morning. Fur' looking

for some hot summery weather, then unfortunately this forecast isn't

going to give that to you because it will stay unsettled. There will be

further