:00:03. > :00:07.nurse to answer the call was found dead on Friday.
:00:07. > :00:11.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest
:00:11. > :00:21.financial news with World Business Report.
:00:21. > :00:25.
:00:25. > :00:27.Hello and welcome to World Business Report. These are the headlines:
:00:27. > :00:32.Sweeping new powers for the European Central Bank, but many
:00:32. > :00:37.questions remain unanswered by plans for a eurozone banking union.
:00:37. > :00:41.Asian stock markets gain as Japan gets a mere -- boost from a weaker
:00:41. > :00:44.currency. Plus back on the map. Google launches its latest mapping
:00:44. > :00:54.software for the iPhone after Apple's attempts at its own version
:00:54. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :01:00.In the early hours of this morning, European Union finance ministers
:01:00. > :01:04.say they have reached an agreement on a massive overhaul of the
:01:04. > :01:07.region's financial system. The centre-piece - powers for the
:01:07. > :01:12.European Central Bank to directly police the eurozone's biggest banks,
:01:12. > :01:15.a key step towards closer political union. Leaders say they are on
:01:15. > :01:19.track to implement the changes by March, 2014 but the ECB does have
:01:19. > :01:25.discretion to delay if it wants more time to prepare for its role
:01:26. > :01:35.as chief supervisor for banks. Brian Milligan reports on the many
:01:36. > :01:39.
:01:39. > :01:44.details that still have to be It is nearly 21 years since
:01:44. > :01:49.fireworks marked the birth of the euro as cash. The eurozone has had
:01:49. > :01:57.a single currency and a single market. Now the prospect of a
:01:57. > :02:07.single supervisor for its banks. What -- where we were badly bankers
:02:07. > :02:11.
:02:12. > :02:17.for none the euro countries? -- were all this leave. Whether it
:02:17. > :02:25.will have any federal deposit backstop scheme behind it, it is
:02:25. > :02:30.very unlikely. It is a step in the right direction but it could be a
:02:30. > :02:35.toothless body. It has already been agreed that the banking supervisor
:02:35. > :02:42.would be part of the ECB. Were they have the power to close banks down
:02:42. > :02:46.if they represent as a threat? How many banks were led supervise?
:02:47. > :02:52.Smaller German and Spanish banks maybe excluded with only larger
:02:52. > :02:58.bags coming under the regulator. worry about the size of banks. It
:02:58. > :03:04.is a political issue. Especially for Germany. Germany is not keen
:03:05. > :03:09.for his smaller banks be regulated. In the past, they have had
:03:09. > :03:15.Government support through their funding costs. One other issue
:03:15. > :03:20.outstanding is where the new supervisor be based. Will it be in
:03:20. > :03:27.the new ECB building in Frankfurt or will it partly be in Paris? That
:03:27. > :03:37.is the sort of the question the you can take a long time to decide.
:03:37. > :03:40.
:03:40. > :03:50.-- d each year. -- the e youth. This is quite a significant step
:03:50. > :03:54.
:03:54. > :03:58.forward. Tel us more about this deal. It is a significant step. The
:03:58. > :04:06.direction his career. There will be a banking union of some kind, at
:04:06. > :04:12.some point. We did not get the shape of the banking union, or when.
:04:12. > :04:18.There is a date of only 2014 it mentioned. It is an agreement that
:04:18. > :04:23.they will agree in the future. terms of the types of banks, and
:04:23. > :04:33.the sizes. Do we have any details? France and Germany seem to have
:04:33. > :04:34.
:04:34. > :04:38.reached a compromise. This will essentially be for the bigger banks.
:04:38. > :04:44.It leaves out the smaller German banks which was the main
:04:44. > :04:49.negotiation point. It will take most of the French banks. It is
:04:49. > :04:54.quite a broad-based banking union. The politicians have to rubber-
:04:54. > :05:04.stamp it. That could lead to more issues? There will be more
:05:04. > :05:07.
:05:07. > :05:17.discussions. There are still some diversions used and the Timeline
:05:17. > :05:17.
:05:17. > :05:23.has been pushed back a year. 2014 is probably more realistic, this is
:05:23. > :05:33.a big change. The direction is clear. You have released your
:05:33. > :05:35.
:05:35. > :05:40.winter forecasts for the eurozone region. Tell us. It is comforting
:05:40. > :05:45.that approve his forecast came through. It is stagnation for
:05:45. > :05:50.another year in 20 getting for the eurozone. The prisoners were say
:05:50. > :05:58.this is still no recovery, the ups and most will say at least we are
:05:58. > :06:04.not getting deeper into recession. -- up some us. There has not been
:06:04. > :06:12.much great. It will take longer. We are speaking about the last decade.
:06:12. > :06:18.There'll be many years of low growth. Companies and households
:06:18. > :06:23.are restricting their spending. terms of this move by the ECB and
:06:23. > :06:30.eurozone leaders, to forge together banks and have better supervision,
:06:30. > :06:34.the thing that is key for future confidence? It is absolutely key it.
:06:34. > :06:39.Confidence is exactly the right word. There was a lack of
:06:39. > :06:44.confidence in the banking sector. No-one dared to put their money in
:06:44. > :06:53.banks because they feared the banks were not healthy enough. We need to
:06:53. > :06:58.re-establish that. 2013, when we look as some of the fans, German
:06:58. > :07:04.elections, Spain possibly needing official help from the ECB. It has
:07:04. > :07:10.not yet asked for that. And elections in Italy. Quite a year.
:07:10. > :07:20.It will be a busy year. It will be a year with a step forwards and
:07:20. > :07:21.
:07:21. > :07:29.backs. Some volatility as well. At least we have a process in place
:07:29. > :07:35.towards a banking union and some other reforms to closer integration.
:07:35. > :07:45.We are slowly, gradually, going to resolve this crisis. Thank you. I
:07:45. > :07:47.
:07:47. > :07:51.hope you are right. Let's look at the other big stories.
:07:51. > :07:56.Markets in Asia had been dyed jesting the announcement that came
:07:56. > :07:59.from Ben Bernanke. The central bank will be pumping billions more into
:07:59. > :08:06.the US economy and keep interest rates in years era until
:08:06. > :08:13.unemployment in the States have fallen to 6.5%. That is quite a
:08:13. > :08:20.commitment. Rico Hizon is in Singapore. Telly
:08:20. > :08:26.us more about the reaction in Asia. It is about liquidity. It could
:08:26. > :08:34.flow into Asia. It is helping Asian stock markets firm up this Thursday.
:08:34. > :08:40.It is also propelling the positive mood. Japan has climbed to an 8-
:08:40. > :08:50.month high due to the weakening currency against the US dollar. It
:08:50. > :08:50.
:08:50. > :08:55.is helping South Korea to a fresh two-month high. Japan is an economy
:08:55. > :09:01.on the roads and in recession. They had their depreciating currency
:09:01. > :09:06.will boost exports as earnings. There is mounted expectation that
:09:06. > :09:16.the Bank of Japan will have more or aggressive monetary easing as we
:09:16. > :09:22.head into 2013. Investors are hoping Bob bolder moves from the
:09:22. > :09:26.central bank after Japan's general election this coming weekend. The
:09:26. > :09:34.main candidate is the Leader of the Opposition party, he is expected to
:09:34. > :09:44.win. He wants to set an inflation target of 2% and embarking on a
:09:44. > :09:56.
:09:56. > :09:59.Many people are excited about this. In the last 30 minutes, Google has
:10:00. > :10:03.launched a new version of its maps application for the iPhone. The
:10:03. > :10:06.growing rivalry between the search giant and Apple meant the most
:10:06. > :10:09.recent iPhone appeared with Apple's own mapping software. It has had
:10:09. > :10:11.some well documented problems to say the least, this week Australian
:10:11. > :10:15.police called it potentially life threatening after its bad
:10:15. > :10:21.directions left drivers stranded in the outback. So is this defeat for
:10:21. > :10:26.Apple Maps? If you have one of the latest Apple iPhones and you had
:10:26. > :10:32.been frustrated by their mapping system, you can download a Google