:00:06. > :00:16.the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest financial
:00:16. > :00:17.
:00:17. > :00:21.Hello and welcome to World Business Report.
:00:21. > :00:26.Reports say HSBC is facing a record payout to settle allegations of
:00:26. > :00:36.money laundering. Europe plans a one-stop shop for
:00:36. > :00:40.
:00:40. > :00:43.inventors in a massive overhaul of the patent system. Shares in
:00:43. > :00:46.depends power companies are slumping after it there was news
:00:46. > :00:54.that a nuclear power plant in western Japan could be
:00:54. > :01:00.decommissioned. British banking giant HSBC is to
:01:00. > :01:03.pay $1.9 billion dollars to settle allegations of money laundering.
:01:03. > :01:06.Under what is known as a deferred prosecution agreement, the bank
:01:06. > :01:13.will be accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act and the Trading
:01:13. > :01:23.With The Enemy Act. The deal, expected to be announced in New
:01:23. > :01:27.York later today, would be a record settlement.
:01:27. > :01:32.The investigation of HSBC stems from accusations that it
:01:32. > :01:37.transferred billions of dollars on behalf of Iran, our country subject
:01:37. > :01:44.to American sanctions and that it landed -- laundered money for
:01:44. > :01:51.Mexican drug cartels. Many may find such they are shocking. One person
:01:51. > :01:58.is not shocked. He worked in HSBC's complies Department from 2010 until
:01:58. > :02:03.November, 2011. What was your job at HSBC? My job was to find
:02:03. > :02:10.suspicious activity, reported, stop it and make sure that the bank was
:02:10. > :02:17.complying with the bank secrecy Act and the other laws of the US.
:02:17. > :02:23.much suspicious activity defined? lot. Dee's whether the activity --
:02:23. > :02:31.the testimony the give or withhold truth? In July, senators chastised
:02:31. > :02:35.the bank, saying that it was used by drug kingpins to launder money.
:02:35. > :02:39.Bureau admissions are mistakes were made. I recognise that there were
:02:39. > :02:45.significant areas of failure. I have said before and I will say
:02:45. > :02:51.again, despite the best efforts and intentions of many dedicated
:02:51. > :02:55.professionals, HSBC has fallen short of our expectations and the
:02:55. > :02:59.expectations of our regulators. These are mistakes that a bank
:02:59. > :03:03.seeking to conduct business globally and in the US must
:03:03. > :03:09.acknowledge and move on from. banking giant is expected to pay
:03:09. > :03:13.$2.5 billion, the largest ever such fine. It is on top of civil
:03:13. > :03:19.penalties that bring the total to $1.9 billion. That is more than the
:03:19. > :03:25.Bank is believed to have set aside. HSBC is not the only British bank
:03:25. > :03:30.to face massive fines. The US authorities also reached a
:03:30. > :03:40.settlement with Standard Charter's. Even among banks accused of forging
:03:40. > :03:41.
:03:41. > :03:46.the rules, HSBC stood out. That may be why it is facing such a hefty
:03:46. > :03:49.penalty. Later today, the European parliament will vote to overhaul
:03:49. > :03:51.Europe's patent system. At the moment anyone with an idea they
:03:51. > :03:55.want to protect has to register separately in individual EU
:03:55. > :03:58.countries, up to 27 times to cover the whole EU. It is complicated and
:03:58. > :04:01.expensive, so the plan is to introduce one pan-European patent.
:04:01. > :04:07.Vincent Tillman is a Senior Advisor at Eurochambres. That's the
:04:07. > :04:13.European-wide body that represents business interests.
:04:13. > :04:20.You must be pleased to hear this news? Good morning, it is a good
:04:20. > :04:26.progress. For about ten years, the Chamber of Commerce has been
:04:26. > :04:29.pressuring policy makers have to find a deal on these issues.
:04:29. > :04:32.Different consensus has had been looked for the past few years and
:04:32. > :04:39.now we're close to consensus. It is not perfect because we know that
:04:39. > :04:45.Spain and Italy and not him but this is an historic win. Why has it
:04:45. > :04:55.taken so long? Is it just the laborious process of trying to get
:04:55. > :05:01.Europe to agree on anything? It is the European disease but I suspect
:05:01. > :05:07.it is the language which is the most difficult to overcome. The
:05:07. > :05:12.patterned has to be translated in as many languages as there are
:05:12. > :05:17.countries which want the patents to be protected. The idea is to
:05:17. > :05:22.simplify the language regime which will actually save a lot of costs
:05:22. > :05:26.for companies. That is why we're so happy about the agreement. The
:05:26. > :05:31.agreement is almost there. We have yet to get Spain and Italy to come
:05:31. > :05:37.on board. How long do you think it will be before it is a law and the
:05:37. > :05:45.bin used -- utilise the patent system? The objectives of the
:05:45. > :05:50.European Parliament Office is to provide this by April, 2014. We
:05:50. > :05:59.still have to have ratification of the international agreement in
:05:59. > :06:06.November, 2013. This important step is only a step. It is towards the
:06:06. > :06:11.final agreement. It is a very important step. We will keep an eye
:06:11. > :06:14.on that as it progresses. In Japan, shares in power companies have
:06:14. > :06:24.fallen sharply. That's after geologists warned that there may be
:06:24. > :06:26.
:06:26. > :06:31.an active seismic fault line underneath a nuclear power plant.
:06:31. > :06:40.This sounds a very worrying. The loss in.
:06:40. > :06:48.This is in a nuclear facility in western Japan. According to
:06:48. > :06:55.government guidelines, they may be sitting over an active fault-line.
:06:55. > :06:59.This is the meeting plate of two or more plates of the Earth's crust.
:06:59. > :07:03.The plant may be decommissioned. All but two of Japan's nuclear
:07:03. > :07:10.plants remain off line up for the were shut down after the 2011
:07:10. > :07:17.crisis. If the nuclear regulation authority, which is a regulatory
:07:18. > :07:21.body for the facilities, decides that this facility, which had
:07:21. > :07:29.houses two reactors in the East Coast, is sitting above an active
:07:29. > :07:32.fault, it is likely to be scrapped. The body is also considering
:07:32. > :07:39.whether the other atomic power facility which has two reactors and
:07:39. > :07:43.is also in western Japan, also sits on an active fault. This news is
:07:43. > :07:52.putting pressure on the stock prices of Japan's electric
:07:52. > :07:57.facilities. They have slumped more than 6% today. Others have shed
:07:57. > :08:01.more than 2% in Tokyo trading. Anti-nuclear sentiment is running
:08:01. > :08:09.high in Japan which used to rely on the technology for approximately
:08:09. > :08:19.33% of its electricity needs. The US government is selling its
:08:19. > :08:22.
:08:22. > :08:25.remaining stake in the insurance form. The Treasury owns more than
:08:25. > :08:29.$7.8 billion worth of shares. They edge she was rescued by the
:08:29. > :08:36.government in 2008. Since then the government has more than recovered
:08:36. > :08:40.the 100 AD $2 billion that it is spent on the bail-out. Germany's
:08:40. > :08:43.biggest steel maker, Thyssen Krupp has posted a loss of more than $6
:08:43. > :08:46.billion. The massive loss was largely due to the reduced value of
:08:46. > :08:49.its steel mills in the United States and Brazil. The company is
:08:50. > :08:51.trying to sell those operations, but offers have been much lower
:08:51. > :08:54.than the company's official valuation.
:08:54. > :08:57.Delta Airlines is nearing an agreement to buy the 49% stake in
:08:57. > :09:00.Virgin Atlantic, currently owned by Singapore Airlines. That's
:09:00. > :09:02.according to agency reports. If the deal goes ahead Delta and Virgin
:09:02. > :09:06.are expected to cooperate on transatlantic flights. Chairman of
:09:06. > :09:10.the Virgin Group, Richard Branson says that whatever happens he will
:09:10. > :09:15.retain control of the airline he founded.
:09:15. > :09:18.Policy makers at the US Federal Reserve begin a 2-day meeting today.
:09:18. > :09:21.They are expected to discuss ways of boosting the US economy.
:09:21. > :09:31.Economists say the central bank might decide to pump billions more
:09:31. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:36.dollars into the economy with a bond-buying scheme.
:09:36. > :09:39.It is that meeting at the Federal Reserve for the next few days that
:09:40. > :09:46.is keeping the market and a holding position. They're not moving