:00:03. > :00:13.Bill will be debated about giving illegal immigrants the right to
:00:13. > :00:25.
:00:25. > :00:35.live in the US. Welcome to World Business Report. European leaders
:00:35. > :00:46.
:00:46. > :00:53.will debate the banking industry today. Also in the programme: Sony
:00:53. > :00:55.shares are soaring on reports the selling its entertainment division.
:00:56. > :01:01.The European Union begins its leadership summit today - top of
:01:01. > :01:04.the agenda, tax evasion. The EU believes up to a trillion euros are
:01:04. > :01:07.being lost every year to tax havens - one of them non EU member
:01:07. > :01:12.Switzerland, which is still clinging to its long tradition of
:01:12. > :01:22.banking secrecy. But for how much longer can Switzerland resist the
:01:22. > :01:26.
:01:26. > :01:30.pressure from Brussels? Switzerland is a proud country, fiercely
:01:30. > :01:36.independent and often slow to change. They have their own special
:01:36. > :01:41.ways of doing things. One of them is banking secrecy. That is one
:01:41. > :01:46.tradition Switzerland's neighbours say has to stop. The European
:01:46. > :01:52.Parliament believes one trillion euros every year in taxes is
:01:52. > :01:59.vanishing. Some is going to Swiss banks. Let's put that into
:01:59. > :02:04.perspective. One trillion euro is almost double the combined efforts
:02:05. > :02:10.of all the member states. They want an automatic exchange of banking
:02:10. > :02:15.information. Then tax authorities can find out if their citizens have
:02:15. > :02:21.money in the Swiss bank accounts. Switzerland has been told it must
:02:21. > :02:25.comply. The Swiss parliament showed dismayed and division as to whether
:02:25. > :02:31.they should give in to the European demands. It would be out of
:02:31. > :02:37.character. Should they follow their long tradition of saying no to
:02:37. > :02:41.outside interference? Translation that we will defend our position
:02:41. > :02:50.with no exchange of information. Others will have to accept this.
:02:50. > :02:53.They can do what they like. suppose Switzerland will resist and
:02:54. > :02:59.pretend we are alone up and the mountains. It would not be
:02:59. > :03:03.practical. It's beginning to look like being practical may win out
:03:03. > :03:09.over the tradition and the independents. They may be wealthy
:03:09. > :03:13.but much of the wealth depends on doing business within a Europe. If
:03:13. > :03:22.Europe wants the banks to change the way they do business, the Swiss
:03:22. > :03:25.a growing realisation that the days of banking secrecy are numbered.
:03:25. > :03:28.Staying with tax and the chief executive of Apple, Tim Cook faced
:03:28. > :03:38.some tough questions in Washington yesterday over his company's tax
:03:38. > :03:38.
:03:38. > :03:41.policy. In particular US law makers wanted to know about a scheme where
:03:41. > :03:48.Apple channels most of its overseas sales through three companies
:03:48. > :03:51.incorporated in Ireland, but not liable to pay tax anywhere. That
:03:51. > :03:57.helped reduce Apple's tax bill by 9 billion dollars last year,
:03:57. > :04:07.according to a Senate report. But Mister Cook stood by his firm's
:04:07. > :04:08.
:04:08. > :04:14.actions. We pay all of the tax we owe it. We pay every dollar. We
:04:14. > :04:21.comply with the law and we comply with the spirit of the law. We do
:04:21. > :04:28.not depend on tax havens. We want you to focus on the US taxes. The
:04:28. > :04:33.real issue is billions up tax it is not paying. Thanks to the offshore
:04:33. > :04:36.tax strategy. The purposes tax- avoidance, pure and simple. Shares
:04:36. > :04:40.in Sony have soared this morning and are trading at the highest
:04:40. > :04:43.level in around two years. The excitement has been caused by a
:04:43. > :04:49.report saying that Sony might be considering a proposal to sell part
:04:49. > :04:57.of its successful entertainment business. Rico Hizon is in
:04:57. > :05:01.Singapore for us this morning. It's nice to see you. This follows the
:05:01. > :05:08.letter from one of the key shareholders to Sony suggesting
:05:08. > :05:16.this idea. That's right. It's about the suggestion from an influential
:05:16. > :05:21.hedge manager, he spoke with the CEO of Sony. All eyes will be on
:05:21. > :05:25.Sony. There's a press conference in about 90 minutes in Tokyo to
:05:25. > :05:31.discuss his plan to revive the profitability of the electronic
:05:32. > :05:38.giant. Basically, there is speculation that the spin-off
:05:38. > :05:43.business may be part of the agenda. All the talk about selling off the
:05:43. > :05:49.entertainment and movie business started when there was talk about
:05:49. > :05:55.pushing Sony to sell one fifth of its profitable business. The hedge
:05:55. > :06:00.fund has built up a large stake in Sony worth more than $1 billion,
:06:00. > :06:04.making it the biggest shareholder. We will have to wait to see what
:06:04. > :06:13.happens in this press conference with the Sony see no taking place
:06:13. > :06:23.shortly. In Japan, trade figures were a bit disappointing? That's
:06:23. > :06:29.right. The trade deficit expanded to the worse than expected 70% to
:06:29. > :06:33.over $8.6 billion. That was due to the rising cost of imports such as
:06:33. > :06:39.oil suppliers. That gives us an insight into the falling value of
:06:39. > :06:43.the yen. So far it's positive for exporters because they sell cheaper
:06:43. > :06:49.goods but not all businesses are happy because the falling cost of
:06:49. > :06:53.the yen is driving up imports such as energy. A meeting took place
:06:54. > :06:57.with the bank of Japan today and they decided to keep the market
:06:57. > :07:03.policy on hold saying recent data shows that the economy is picking
:07:03. > :07:10.up. It recovers in other countries. Demand within Japan remains
:07:10. > :07:17.resilient. After an eight-year wait, Microsoft unveiled its latest
:07:17. > :07:19.computer games console. The Xbox One will go on sale later this year.
:07:19. > :07:26.Microsoft says it is an all-in-one system, offering games, live TV,
:07:26. > :07:30.movies and music. It's an important launch for Microsoft, last year its
:07:30. > :07:34.games division accounted for almost $10 billion worth of sales. The BBC
:07:35. > :07:43.spoke to the head of Microsoft's Xbox business, Don Mattrick. He
:07:43. > :07:48.says computer games will be just one part of the machine's appeal.
:07:48. > :07:52.do think people will love the innovations. The ability to move
:07:52. > :07:59.between all classes of content instantly. Just like changing
:07:59. > :08:08.channels. Doing two things at once. Those will have context through
:08:08. > :08:11.smart mobile devices. Tablets, and place to have fun, socialise, to
:08:11. > :08:15.experience all kinds of things. International Monetary Fund is due
:08:15. > :08:17.to release a report on the state of the British economy later today. It
:08:17. > :08:22.follows a week of meetings between IMF officials and representatives
:08:22. > :08:25.from the government and Bank of England. According to a report in
:08:25. > :08:28.the Times the IMF will urge the government to sell its stakes in
:08:28. > :08:35.Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, despite potential losses for the
:08:35. > :08:39.taxpayer. Shares in the world's biggest operator of cruise ships,
:08:39. > :08:42.Carnival fell 4% in New York. That's after the company cuts its
:08:42. > :08:46.forecast for profits this year. Carnival is struggling to recover
:08:46. > :08:49.from a string of mishaps. The most recent was in February when
:08:49. > :08:56.passengers on the Carnival Triumph endured grim conditions after the
:08:56. > :08:58.ship lost power and was adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for five days.
:08:58. > :09:04.Shareholders in JP Morgan Chase voted in favour of keeping Jamie
:09:04. > :09:08.Dimon in the roles of Chief Executive and Chairman. There had
:09:08. > :09:13.been calls for him to give up one of the posts, particular after a
:09:13. > :09:15.rogue trading scandal cost the bank more than $6 billion last year. But
:09:15. > :09:25.Dimon's supporters pointed to the company's record profits and strong
:09:25. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:39.share performance. We will speak about that shortly. That vote was