23/11/2017 Business Briefing

This is your Business Briefing.

I'm Sally Bundock.

Switzerland and the EU square up

over cash and immigration.

Are there lessons to learn

for post-Brexit Britain?

Plus, Brazil's lady drivers.

Why women only taxi apps

are booming in Sao Paolo.

And it's a quieter day today

for financial markets.

Japan is closed and Hong Kong clings

on to record levels.

The US dollar holding on to losses.

We start in Switzerland,

where European Commission President,

Jean Claude-Juncker,

will be holding talks

with the government

in the next couple of hours.

They will be trying to get strained

EU-Swiss relations back on track.

The talks are being closely

watched here in the UK,

not least because Switzerland's been

held up by some as a model

for post-Brexit Britain,

not in the EU but enjoying

close trade ties.

Well, the big issue today

is a familiar one, money.

The Swiss are due to pay

another billion francs,

roughly a billion dollars,

to the EU's Cohesion Fund,

which supports newer members

in central and Eastern Europe.

And here's something else familiar.

The issue's been on hold

since February 2014,

when the Swiss narrowly voted

in a referendum to bring back quotas

for the number of EU

workers they allow in.

Not surprisingly, some see this

as a test case for Brexit.

Can Switzerland get the benefits

of trade with the EU while keeping

control of its borders?

But not Jean-Claude Juncker.

He calls it a "Swiss-specific"

situation, and said last year that

any deal reached with Switzerland

would not be a blueprint

for the United Kingdom.

Here's our Switzerland

correspondent, Imogen Foulkes.

With Brussels wanting to get

something from this meeting, the EU

wants Switzerland to commit another

$1 billion to support new EU members

in central and Eastern Europe. A

first billion was paid by the Swiss

10 years ago. The Swiss want their

bilateral ties with the EU, by far

the biggest trading partner of

Switzerland, back on track. A

compromise has already been found

under which no quotas will be

introduced unless unemployment

reaches unprecedented levels. And

the Swiss government appears ready

to stamp up the $1 billion. In

return, Brussels will grant equal

status to the Swiss stock exchange

and may start talks on access to the

energy market. It is an interesting

message for future non-EU member

Britain, doing business with the EU

is perfectly possible, but there is

a pricetag attached.

Dr Elaine Fahey is from City Law

School at the University of London.

It is good to see you. It is a very

interesting scenario the keep an eye

on. As she was pointing out,

Switzerland, you know, has access to

the single market, and yet it has

its independence, but it is paying a

price for that.

Switzerland paid a

high price for access to the single

market, but for a long time, they

have been looking to

institutionalise that relationship.

How much is involved in the

agreement and what price will they

further have to pay, we don't know.

It is interesting to see how it

develops. Switzerland has been

outside, and yet it is continuing to

negotiate this too and -- to and

fro.

They were suspended for a

while. Political bargaining has been

going on for some time. At the end

of the day, if you want access to

the single market, you have to pay

for it.

To what extent are there

parallels between Switzerland and

the UK post- Brexit?

Extremely

strong parallels with issues like

migration, access to the single

market, and the Swiss don't want a

relationship with the Court of

Justice, and it will be interesting

to see what they have to accept in

return for deepening relations with

the Stock Exchange and so on.

Who

has the upper hand?

Unquestionably,

the EU have the upper hand. They are

always likely to have it. But it

remains to be seen what happens

today.

Interesting. Thank you for

coming in. We will keep an eye on

that today and beyond. Let's go to

Brazil now.

It's already one

of the world's biggest markets

for ride-sharing

apps like Uber.

But apps aimed exclusively at women,

offering only women drivers,

are taking off fast.

There are now three such services

in the city of Sao Paulo alone.

We joined some drivers

on a ride to find out why.

To Asia now.

There could be yet more

damage to the reputation

of Japanese manufacturing

after Kobe Steel was found to have

been falsifying quality

control data for years.

According to a report,

a division of Mitsubishi Materials

has also been cheating.

Let's go to our Asia business

hub where Rico Hizon

is following the story.

It is nice to see you, Rico Hizon.

What is going on now?

I know! It

keeps on piling up, one problem

after another. Now it is Mitsubishi,

who reportedly falsified product

data four years on its so-called O

Rings material. And they are used as

a sealing product for industrial

products like aircraft. They said

the company found the issue during

an investigation following data

falsification at Kobe Steel, the

third-largest steel manufacturer in

Japan. They have a 45% share in a

joint-venture with Kobe Steel,

including the Hatano plant, the

centre of whole scandal. They

admitted workers tampered with

product specifications, causing

aircraft makers and other companies

to check if their safety performance

had been compromise. This is the

latest involving Japanese makers

including automakers like Nissan and

Subaru, who also failed to comply

with procedures for decades. More

problems for Japanese makers.

It

seems so. Thank you. And now for

other business stories.

The US Federal Reserve looks set

to raise interest rates

again next month.

Minutes of its last meeting showed

a majority of committee members saw

the need for a rise

in the "near term."

That's despite concerns

about the weak level of inflation

which has been below the Fed's

2% target for years.

Taxi app, Uber, is facing

investigation in at least three

European countries after revelations

it failed to disclose a hacking

attack last year in which personal

data from 57 million customers

and drivers was stolen

and hackers were paid off.

The UK regulator said the incident

raised "huge concerns."

Watchdogs in Italy and

the Netherlands are also looking

into the breach.

And now, what's trending in the

business news this morning?

From Business Insider.

Vladimir Putin could secretly be one

of the richest men in the world.

That's according to an investigative

reporter who spent four years

in Russia researching the story.

CNBC uses Thanksgiving

as an opportunity to reflect

on Wall Street's

record breaking run.

It says this.

Investors have plenty to be

thankful for this year,

and the trend will continue,

according to a top market strategist

Bloomberg looks at the huge

economic challenge facing

Zimbabwe's new leader.

Mnangagwa's task is to rebuild

Zimbabwe's economy from the ground

And don't forget, let us know

what you are spotting on line.

Use the hashtag #BBCTheBriefing.

And these are the markets. Wall

Street is closed for Thanksgiving.

No action on Wall Street.

That's it for the Business

Briefing this hour.

Up next, Newsbriefing.

We'll take you through the stories

making headlines in the global media

today.

I will see you in a