05/03/2013 World Business Report

father. Time for the latest business news.

Welcome to world business news. -- World Business Report.

Another round in the battle over Anke bonuses. Today, the UK will

try to water down European plans to curb the bonus pay-outs. -- bonus

pay-outs. Can the flat mining European market for cars be saved

by the new Peugeot executive? -- flatlining. And we focus on China.

What will the new leadership mean for the world's second largest

economy? Should banks be able to pay their staff what they like? To

some extent, it depends on whether Dee Why in Brussels or in London.

Today, the UK will try to limit regulations on a salary 40

executives. There is growing anger at the sums they can command on top

of basic pay. In London, many argue that the measures risky driving

bankers a broad. -- overseas. Goodbye to the big bonus. Clumsy

regulation will only make top bankers Walker, according to the

City of London. Brussels says it is a sensible move to curb the sort of

risk taking that led to the financial crisis. Regardless of how

you feel, there are still many unanswered questions about how the

limits will be applied and calculated and who would have to

comply from as early as the month of May this year. Since the peak

bonus year of 2008, strides have been made to link rewards with

performance and they are still hoping that George Osborne can pull

something out today. There is certainly some concern that one of

the impact of this piece of legislation will be an increase in

base salaries. We saw that happening in 2009, 2010, and

clearly, that concern exists. is not actually what banks want.

What they don't want is increased fixed costs. They want to be able

to adjust pay for performance. Curbing City bonuses is a point of

principle for money and there is a belief that the UK will try to

extract concessions. One might be allowing institutions to pay larger

bonuses but defer them up over many years.

The Geneva Motor Show opens today. It is traditionally one of the more

glamourous auto shows, a place to display luxury models and concept

vehicles. This year, the dire state of the European auto industry will

hang heavy. ProShare has been one of the carmakers most hit. --

Peugeot. It will be not in two models this year. We spoke with the

company's head of branding. We were too dependent on Europe. In 2009,

we were selling and the 24% of our vehicles in Europe. With this model,

we want a global vehicle. We will manufacture in France and also

China and Brazil. It has been developed for all of the markets in

the world. There has been a lot written in the international media

about the cost of labour in France. Compare that with Spain, the Czech

Republic, Slovakia. How do you tell you investors that producing in

France is the right decision? difficult because we have to

convince the French government to change some things. They have

already put in place measures that will reduce our costs by 100

million euros in 2014. This is not sufficient, however. The French

government must also reduce labour costs by changing the way we

finance social security. That is why we have explaining to the

French government that it must do more to reduce labour costs in

France. You received some criticism from the government when you

decided to close... Some said that the rhetoric from certain ministers

was irresponsible. Does the government better understand your

difficulties now? Clearly, we and the government must work together

because we are producing 60% of auto production in France. That is

why we must work together to find the best solution. Today, the

government agrees with what we are doing with regards a structuring

plan. As you have been hearing, the National People's Congress has

opened in Beijing. Thousands of delegates have gathered and over

the next ten days, they will rubber-stamp government policy. The

main event is the handing over of power to the new Communist Party

leader, Xi Jinping. But today, the retiring premier, Wen Jiabao, has

been speaking. He has announced a growth target of 7%. Thank you for

joining us. There is an awful lot on the agenda over the next ten

days. When we look at the economy, what will be most important? This

year, it is important for us to know what the government target is

and what kind of policies they have in mind and what kind of reform

measures and structural change measures they have in place, at

least for this year. The targets that you have mentioned and'

economic policies, monetary and fiscal policy targets. The Budget

and the structure of the Budget. Proposed areas for reform Ed for

the next few days. -- over the next few days. In terms of reform, it is

an enormous task. Structural reform, increasing social welfare and

spending, bridging the gap between rich and poor, concerns like the

environment... What will they address in terms of the long-term

picture first? Right. In terms of what has got to be done, I think

that they have to continue to reform... (INAUDIBLE). As well as

fiscal reform and the financial market reform and so on. Of course,

that is enormously difficult, especially for a new government,

which was still make sure they have consensus support within the party

and within the government. Four this year, we believe they will

address some of the social issues first. The social concerns that

have upset the population, including heavy pollution,

corruption issues and social spending. Healthcare, insurance,

pensions and also issues relating to some of the land related

problems in rural settlements. In addition, also to start adjusting

energy prices, which has already been announced to some extent. And

income inequality. Raising the minimum wage and spending more on

the poor. Building more schools and so on and so forth. Thank you.

Truly an enormous agenda. Thank you. And apologies if we lost the Tour

de Gay briefly. Obviously -- the audio briefly. Cyprus has agreed to

an international evaluation of its efforts to tackle money laundering

and tax evasion. It comes after a meeting in Brussels. Cyprus

requires a bail out but is struggling to reach a deal with the

EU. German lawmakers have threatened to veto Cyprus unless it

promises tough measures on its financial institutions. Shares in

Apple have lost more than 20% this year. It is partly because of

speculation that it will not seek the spectacular returns that it has

seen over the last few years. Investors want to know if Apple can

continue to release the latest popular products. There is

speculation it is working on a watch. Loss of focus on time and

the events taking place there today. -- there has been a lot of focus in

the markets on China and the events that are going on there today. That