:00:03. > :00:08.row within the banking rules. Seizing power, Bolivia follows
:00:08. > :00:15.Argentina's lead and nationalise is another Spanish company. --
:00:15. > :00:19.nationalise us. Thank you for choosing us. Now, how
:00:19. > :00:23.much is enough, and who should decide? The amount of money banks
:00:23. > :00:27.keep on reserve is seen as crucial to averting a repeat of the lean
:00:27. > :00:31.and Brothers collapse. Today European finance ministers hope to
:00:31. > :00:35.thrash out new rules on bank capital, which would affect more
:00:35. > :00:38.than 8,000 lenders, and if the rules are too strict, banks may be
:00:38. > :00:45.forced to restrict lending Street firms and households. But if they
:00:45. > :00:50.are too lax, it may not be enough to avert another financial crisis.
:00:50. > :00:55.This situation is basically the rules that the EU is putting in
:00:55. > :00:59.place ahead of the international rules coming into play at the
:00:59. > :01:03.beginning of next year, isn't it? So what are they saying at the
:01:03. > :01:07.moment that the standard should be in Europe? Well, at the moment, the
:01:07. > :01:13.basic proposal is simply to implement the basil 3 rules which
:01:13. > :01:16.come into force at the beginning of next year. That means a 7% capital
:01:16. > :01:20.ratio for all banks concerned. It also means that we have special
:01:20. > :01:27.rules for much larger, globally systemically important banks. They
:01:28. > :01:32.must have much higher ratios. But 7% is the minimum for banks. And is
:01:32. > :01:36.that double? All these banks across Europe, some of whom are exposed to
:01:36. > :01:41.very difficult situations, like the Spanish housing market, can they do
:01:41. > :01:44.this? They have to be able to, because banks certainly need more
:01:45. > :01:48.capital. The risk taking needs to be in some such as reduced. Where
:01:48. > :01:53.banks cannot do what, in the private market, it will probably
:01:54. > :01:58.need to be complemented by public money. A sort of part
:01:58. > :02:02.nationalisation. So it is certainly possible to do 7%. If it goes
:02:02. > :02:07.higher than 7%, some countries may face financing needs they cannot
:02:07. > :02:12.fulfil. Some are calling for more than 7%, big UK and Sweden. And
:02:12. > :02:15.some are saying that they would be like to -- like to be able to set
:02:15. > :02:19.rules in their own member countries. So tell us about that argument,
:02:19. > :02:25.will they be able to solve those disputes? This is a very typically
:02:25. > :02:28.European argument. Not just in banking, many product markets. We
:02:28. > :02:32.have on the one hand a tendency that some countries fear that they
:02:32. > :02:34.need more specific national rules, which are tougher than the general
:02:35. > :02:38.consensus, and other countries which are saying that we should
:02:38. > :02:40.have the same rules for all countries, so that our companies
:02:40. > :02:44.can operate in all countries without having different regimes
:02:44. > :02:49.everywhere. So now we have the argument between Britain and Sweden,
:02:49. > :02:53.who have tougher rules, and what these rules to keep that banks save,
:02:53. > :03:02.whereas other countries have more of a common market -- Common Market
:03:02. > :03:05.argument, saying that we should all have the same rules. Well, we will
:03:05. > :03:08.watch this space with interest, to see how they work their way through
:03:08. > :03:12.this one. Thank you for coming in to give us your take on that event
:03:12. > :03:15.taking place today. Let's not talk about these crisis
:03:15. > :03:19.talks that are going on in Madrid, after a second Spanish firm was
:03:19. > :03:23.seized by a Latin-American government. But Libya's military
:03:23. > :03:28.seized the facilities of red electric international on Tuesday.
:03:28. > :03:35.-- but Libya's the Bolivian President said he was nationalising
:03:35. > :03:38.the power company. This follows a very similar situation of the
:03:38. > :03:43.nationalisation of a subsidiary of reps or by the Argentine government
:03:43. > :03:48.last month. As workers on Bolivia marched on
:03:48. > :03:54.May 1st, that President decided to nationalise the electricity company.
:03:54. > :03:59.It was owned by the Spanish electricity company Re E. Evo
:03:59. > :04:03.Morales said Bolivia was taking control of its own resources, and
:04:03. > :04:07.said that the company's Spanish owners had not invested enough
:04:07. > :04:11.money back into the Bolivian based company.
:04:11. > :04:14.TRANSLATION: To clarify for national and international opinion,
:04:14. > :04:24.this company used to be ours, and we are now nationalising what used
:04:24. > :04:24.
:04:24. > :04:30.to be ours. APPLAUSE. The two weeks ago, a similar message, from
:04:30. > :04:40.another South America lead, about another Spanish owned company.
:04:40. > :04:40.
:04:40. > :04:44.it was Argentina's President. That company looks set to use it -- the
:04:44. > :04:50.loose 51% of its 58% stake in an oil company. Another Spanish victim,
:04:50. > :04:55.after another popular national mood in South America. In commercial
:04:55. > :04:59.terms, Y p f is a bigger loss, but Madrid now has two difficult
:04:59. > :05:02.diplomatic dilemmas. It will not want to escalate the dispute. It
:05:02. > :05:06.will be tried to get as much compensation as possible for the
:05:06. > :05:10.two Spanish companies. It will also, through the European Union and
:05:10. > :05:17.other allies, want to send clear signals that are of Latin-American
:05:17. > :05:22.leaders should not follow suit. -- about Latin American leaders.
:05:22. > :05:28.Ikea is investigating claims it used false lay-by in East Germany
:05:28. > :05:32.to make its furniture during the 1970s and 1980s. -- Labour. An
:05:32. > :05:36.investigation by a Swedish current affairs programme, due to be aired
:05:36. > :05:40.tonight, will unveil secret police files from the East German Stasi.
:05:40. > :05:43.The Swedish furniture group is the world's biggest furniture sell-off.
:05:44. > :05:47.UBS is expected to announce more dismal earnings for the start of
:05:47. > :05:54.the year. Jobs could also go as the group struggles to recoup losses
:05:54. > :05:57.from last year's to billion-dollar rogue trading scandal. Last Tuesday
:05:57. > :06:05.the port to reach an arm of the bank paid $27 million to settle
:06:05. > :06:08.fraud allegations in the US. BSkyB unveils third-quarter
:06:08. > :06:11.earnings to date. They will be the first set of results since James
:06:11. > :06:16.Murdoch was forced to step down as chairman following the phone
:06:16. > :06:21.hacking scandal at sister newspaper, News of the World. On Tuesday, UK
:06:21. > :06:24.politicians announced that James' father, Rupert Murdoch, was unfit
:06:24. > :06:28.to run News International, which had made a failed attempt to take
:06:28. > :06:31.over BSkyB. Facebook has set the date for its
:06:31. > :06:37.share sale. According to the Wall Street Journal, should be able to
:06:37. > :06:40.buy a piece of the world's biggest social network from 18th May. The
:06:40. > :06:46.group will start drumming up support for the share offer on
:06:46. > :06:50.Monday. Mark Zuckerberg is trying to raise five no -- $5 billion from
:06:50. > :06:54.the share market debut, which would value the group at $100 billion.
:06:54. > :06:58.Now, as you have been hearing, the French presidential election moves
:06:58. > :07:02.into its final stages, and the two remaining candidates are to square
:07:02. > :07:05.up to one another in a televised debate later on. Millions of TV
:07:05. > :07:09.viewers will get a chance to see if President Nicolas Sarkozy can
:07:09. > :07:13.defend his record, while the Socialist challenger and favoured
:07:13. > :07:18.Francois Hollande explains why he would do things different be. The
:07:18. > :07:21.economy will be centre stage, but what exactly did the candidates
:07:21. > :07:25.have they certainly seen as different as chalk and cheese.
:07:25. > :07:29.At Gabba, flamboyant Nicolas Sarkozy up against Francois
:07:30. > :07:33.Hollande, a rather grey man with a populist touch. But when it comes
:07:33. > :07:37.to the -- economic policy, it is Francois have gone to has been
:07:37. > :07:40.attracting the loudest cheers, and inspiring the greatest fears.
:07:40. > :07:43.France is at a crossroads. The economy is stagnating and
:07:43. > :07:46.Employment is nearly 10%. The government is under pressure to
:07:46. > :07:50.bring the budget deficit under control and contain its growing
:07:50. > :07:54.debts. It is how they plan to do that which separates the two
:07:54. > :07:58.candidates. Nicolas Sarkozy prefers the austerity creed preached by
:07:58. > :08:02.Germany. He put a tight lid on spending and trim to back the
:08:02. > :08:06.welfare state. It suits for markets, but it is also highly unpopular, as
:08:06. > :08:10.people worry about jobs and social security. Francois Hollande rejects
:08:10. > :08:14.that approach. He wants to focus on boosting growth instead. It is a
:08:14. > :08:20.strategy that seems to be winning votes, but there may be less
:08:20. > :08:23.difference between the two then meets the eye. There is no big
:08:23. > :08:28.ideological divide, between a Keynesian policy with Francois
:08:28. > :08:32.Fillon, and to be near the ball policy of austerity with Sarkozy.
:08:32. > :08:36.When you look at the figures for spending and the deficit, it is
:08:36. > :08:40.actually extremely close. perceptions matter, especially when
:08:40. > :08:43.it comes to France's relationship with Europe. Francois Hollande has
:08:43. > :08:47.pledged to renegotiate the fiscal compact, and you eurozone treaty
:08:47. > :08:51.designed to make eurozone members balance their budgets. He wants to
:08:51. > :08:55.move the officers from austerity to growth. That has not gone down well
:08:55. > :08:59.in Brussels or Berlin, but it has tapped into a rich vein of anti-
:08:59. > :09:03.European feeling in France. In today's debate, both candidates
:09:03. > :09:07.will have a chance to show that they know best for the country.
:09:07. > :09:12.It will be very interesting viewing, that televised debate, later on
:09:12. > :09:20.today. These are the markets in Asia. As you can see, they're all
:09:20. > :09:25.headed in One Direction. Some are stronger than others. All of these
:09:25. > :09:29.markets were open for trading today. A lot of this is good news on the