:00:08. > :00:15.The BBC has been criticised for the entitlements it has given its
:00:15. > :00:20.outgoing Director General, who resigned after a Newsnight report
:00:20. > :00:25.that incorrectly linked but Tory peer to start -- to child sex abuse
:00:25. > :00:31.cases. A do giant international companies
:00:31. > :00:35.paid enough tax? Google, Amazon and Starbucks will be answering that
:00:35. > :00:42.question when they appear before MPs today. The Greek government
:00:42. > :00:52.says it deserves the next tranche of bail out funds. Japan has led
:00:52. > :00:59.
:00:59. > :01:02.economy is shrinking at its fastest pace in more than one year.
:01:02. > :01:06.Today, senior executives from Starbucks, Google and Amazon will
:01:06. > :01:10.appear before a parliamentary committee to defend their
:01:10. > :01:15.companies' taxation policies. Starbucks has been under scrutiny
:01:15. > :01:21.after a report said that they had paid no corporation tax or income
:01:21. > :01:27.tax in the UK for the past three years. In its defence, Starbucks
:01:27. > :01:37.says it pays its fair share of tax and is in compliance with UK tax
:01:37. > :01:40.
:01:40. > :01:47.laws. Thank you for joining us. Explain how the likes of Starbucks,
:01:47. > :01:51.Google and Alison get away with paying lower tax. -- Amazon.
:01:51. > :01:59.most of all, we have to note that these companies are working within
:01:59. > :02:03.the letter of the law. 5p in the overseas companies, -- because they
:02:03. > :02:09.are international companies, they can get away with paying tax by
:02:09. > :02:13.channelling their income through other sources. For those who
:02:13. > :02:16.compete with companies like this, for example, an independent UK
:02:16. > :02:25.coffee shop competing with Starbucks, this will seem
:02:25. > :02:29.completely unfair. I think that with regards to the letter or the
:02:29. > :02:36.law, whether it is moral or immoral... These companies do not
:02:36. > :02:40.get into business for reasons of morality. Their moral duty is more
:02:40. > :02:45.to their shareholders and, yes, it will be difficult for small
:02:45. > :02:50.companies to stomach that but companies regardless of their size
:02:50. > :02:56.mitigate taxation in one way or another. In the UK, financial
:02:56. > :03:01.chiefs will speak with British lawmakers to discuss this problem.
:03:01. > :03:07.The OECD is looking at this from an international perspective. What can
:03:07. > :03:11.be done to change this? This is very difficult. This is more an
:03:11. > :03:16.international problem than a regional problem. We could look at
:03:16. > :03:21.taxing companies a small amount on overall turnover, as opposed to
:03:21. > :03:27.profit, which can be mitigated by channelling funds overseas. Or we
:03:27. > :03:33.could involve the G20. conversation has started. Will we
:03:33. > :03:37.see change? I think it will be a long time before we see any change.
:03:37. > :03:47.The government has the power to change laws in the UK. But I don't
:03:47. > :03:50.
:03:50. > :03:55.think that will happen any time soon. Thank you.
:03:55. > :03:59.Very grim news coming from Japan. The economy shrank at an annualised
:03:59. > :04:08.rate of 3.5%, its worst performance since last year's devastating
:04:08. > :04:15.earthquake and tsunami. We knew that Japan was heading back
:04:15. > :04:21.into recession and this was what we will waiting for, isn't it? That is
:04:21. > :04:26.correct. A contraction of 3.5% from last year's levels. And also, from
:04:26. > :04:33.the previous quarter, the economy shrank by just under 1% and many
:04:33. > :04:37.are forecasting it to shrink again. If that happens, Japan will be
:04:37. > :04:41.officially back in recession. The Japanese economy has been
:04:41. > :04:46.recovering somewhat resiliently from the earthquake and tsunami,
:04:46. > :04:50.but it seems like external factors like the eurozone crisis as well as
:04:50. > :04:55.the Chinese slowdown, Japan's largest trading partner, are
:04:55. > :05:02.beginning to affect the economy in Japan. The strength of the Japanese
:05:02. > :05:07.yen is also having an effect on exports. There was also the
:05:07. > :05:10.territorial dispute between Japan and China, which resulted in anti-
:05:10. > :05:15.Japanese protests in China. That has had an effect on the
:05:15. > :05:20.performance of Japanese companies. Very dismal figures from Japan
:05:20. > :05:28.today and it looks like there are tough times ahead.
:05:28. > :05:33.Thank you. In Greece, the parliament has approved the
:05:33. > :05:37.nation's 2013 Budget very late on Sunday night. It includes $12
:05:37. > :05:41.billion of spending cuts, which will affect public sector wages,
:05:41. > :05:48.pensions and benefits. Leaders hope the measures will satisfy
:05:48. > :05:53.international lenders who insisted on further cuts before handing over
:05:53. > :05:59.the next instalment of bail out funds worth $40 billion. Without
:06:00. > :06:08.that money, the Greek government will run out of money this month.
:06:08. > :06:14.Thank you for joining us. Explain how Greece will continue to operate.
:06:14. > :06:16.It could run out of money this month. What is the situation?
:06:16. > :06:21.According to the official statements of the government, we
:06:21. > :06:25.will run out of money by the end of the month. The government has
:06:25. > :06:29.approved the measures that are required for the conclusion of this
:06:29. > :06:36.review. In the next few weeks, the Troika will address the outstanding
:06:36. > :06:41.issues, particularly how to recover the funding gap in the programme.
:06:41. > :06:45.We will be able to receive the next tranche by the end of this month.
:06:45. > :06:49.In the meantime, eurozone finance ministers will come up with a
:06:49. > :06:59.contingency plan to keep the country functioning. They don't
:06:59. > :07:01.
:07:01. > :07:07.want to see Greece default. expect Greece will issue additional
:07:07. > :07:17.measures to avoid default. Eurozone authorities have to address how to
:07:17. > :07:24.respond to IMF concerns that it is impossible, legally, to release the
:07:24. > :07:29.next tranche of money. At some point, they must accept some losses.
:07:29. > :07:34.They've passed to the Budget last night. Last week, they passed a new
:07:34. > :07:43.set of austerity measures as well. This all came despite a lot of
:07:43. > :07:47.protests by the Greek people. What will next year be like for Greece?
:07:47. > :07:54.It is going to be very difficult - make or break. The Greek economy
:07:54. > :07:58.has gone through serious recession. The only thing that comes close is
:07:58. > :08:03.the Great Depression in the 1930s. The government has to prove that
:08:03. > :08:08.things will be different next year. They have to prove that they have
:08:08. > :08:18.turned the corner. At the same time, authorities and the trigger have to
:08:18. > :08:24.
:08:24. > :08:28.convince the markets. -- and the Troika. Thank you.
:08:28. > :08:31.Shares in HTC jumped almost 7% during trading today in Asia, after
:08:31. > :08:38.the company announced a global settlement with Apple over patterns
:08:38. > :08:44.of lawsuits -- patent lawsuits. They have signed a licensing
:08:44. > :08:46.agreement to end a costly legal battle. Hong Kong will have more
:08:46. > :08:55.jobs in the financial-services industry than London by 2015,
:08:55. > :09:01.according to a report by an economics consultancy agency. In
:09:01. > :09:04.the future, Hong Kong will be the world's major financial centre. The
:09:04. > :09:10.latest James Bond movie had a strong opening in North America
:09:10. > :09:17.over the weekend. It was the best opening weekend for a James Bond
:09:17. > :09:23.movie. It has taken more than $500 million locally since it was
:09:23. > :09:28.launched in October. A Russian aluminium giant has posted a third-
:09:28. > :09:34.quarter loss of $180 million, blaming troubles in the US and
:09:34. > :09:40.China for the results. It supplies a lot of aluminium for the
:09:40. > :09:45.automobile industry. Asian markets are mixed today. No surprise to see
:09:45. > :09:51.that Japan is having a typical day. This follows the news that was the