22/05/2013 World Business Report

Bill will be debated about giving illegal immigrants the right to

live in the US. Welcome to World Business Report. European leaders

will debate the banking industry today. Also in the programme: Sony

shares are soaring on reports the selling its entertainment division.

The European Union begins its leadership summit today - top of

the agenda, tax evasion. The EU believes up to a trillion euros are

being lost every year to tax havens - one of them non EU member

Switzerland, which is still clinging to its long tradition of

banking secrecy. But for how much longer can Switzerland resist the

pressure from Brussels? Switzerland is a proud country, fiercely

independent and often slow to change. They have their own special

ways of doing things. One of them is banking secrecy. That is one

tradition Switzerland's neighbours say has to stop. The European

Parliament believes one trillion euros every year in taxes is

vanishing. Some is going to Swiss banks. Let's put that into

perspective. One trillion euro is almost double the combined efforts

of all the member states. They want an automatic exchange of banking

information. Then tax authorities can find out if their citizens have

money in the Swiss bank accounts. Switzerland has been told it must

comply. The Swiss parliament showed dismayed and division as to whether

they should give in to the European demands. It would be out of

character. Should they follow their long tradition of saying no to

outside interference? Translation that we will defend our position

with no exchange of information. Others will have to accept this.

They can do what they like. suppose Switzerland will resist and

pretend we are alone up and the mountains. It would not be

practical. It's beginning to look like being practical may win out

over the tradition and the independents. They may be wealthy

but much of the wealth depends on doing business within a Europe. If

Europe wants the banks to change the way they do business, the Swiss

a growing realisation that the days of banking secrecy are numbered.

Staying with tax and the chief executive of Apple, Tim Cook faced

some tough questions in Washington yesterday over his company's tax

policy. In particular US law makers wanted to know about a scheme where

Apple channels most of its overseas sales through three companies

incorporated in Ireland, but not liable to pay tax anywhere. That

helped reduce Apple's tax bill by 9 billion dollars last year,

according to a Senate report. But Mister Cook stood by his firm's

actions. We pay all of the tax we owe it. We pay every dollar. We

comply with the law and we comply with the spirit of the law. We do

not depend on tax havens. We want you to focus on the US taxes. The

real issue is billions up tax it is not paying. Thanks to the offshore

tax strategy. The purposes tax- avoidance, pure and simple. Shares

in Sony have soared this morning and are trading at the highest

level in around two years. The excitement has been caused by a

report saying that Sony might be considering a proposal to sell part

of its successful entertainment business. Rico Hizon is in

Singapore for us this morning. It's nice to see you. This follows the

letter from one of the key shareholders to Sony suggesting

this idea. That's right. It's about the suggestion from an influential

hedge manager, he spoke with the CEO of Sony. All eyes will be on

Sony. There's a press conference in about 90 minutes in Tokyo to

discuss his plan to revive the profitability of the electronic

giant. Basically, there is speculation that the spin-off

business may be part of the agenda. All the talk about selling off the

entertainment and movie business started when there was talk about

pushing Sony to sell one fifth of its profitable business. The hedge

fund has built up a large stake in Sony worth more than $1 billion,

making it the biggest shareholder. We will have to wait to see what

happens in this press conference with the Sony see no taking place

shortly. In Japan, trade figures were a bit disappointing? That's

right. The trade deficit expanded to the worse than expected 70% to

over $8.6 billion. That was due to the rising cost of imports such as

oil suppliers. That gives us an insight into the falling value of

the yen. So far it's positive for exporters because they sell cheaper

goods but not all businesses are happy because the falling cost of

the yen is driving up imports such as energy. A meeting took place

with the bank of Japan today and they decided to keep the market

policy on hold saying recent data shows that the economy is picking

up. It recovers in other countries. Demand within Japan remains

resilient. After an eight-year wait, Microsoft unveiled its latest

computer games console. The Xbox One will go on sale later this year.

Microsoft says it is an all-in-one system, offering games, live TV,

movies and music. It's an important launch for Microsoft, last year its

games division accounted for almost $10 billion worth of sales. The BBC

spoke to the head of Microsoft's Xbox business, Don Mattrick. He

says computer games will be just one part of the machine's appeal.

do think people will love the innovations. The ability to move

between all classes of content instantly. Just like changing

channels. Doing two things at once. Those will have context through

smart mobile devices. Tablets, and place to have fun, socialise, to

experience all kinds of things. International Monetary Fund is due

to release a report on the state of the British economy later today. It

follows a week of meetings between IMF officials and representatives

from the government and Bank of England. According to a report in

the Times the IMF will urge the government to sell its stakes in

Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, despite potential losses for the

taxpayer. Shares in the world's biggest operator of cruise ships,

Carnival fell 4% in New York. That's after the company cuts its

forecast for profits this year. Carnival is struggling to recover

from a string of mishaps. The most recent was in February when

passengers on the Carnival Triumph endured grim conditions after the

ship lost power and was adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for five days.

Shareholders in JP Morgan Chase voted in favour of keeping Jamie

Dimon in the roles of Chief Executive and Chairman. There had

been calls for him to give up one of the posts, particular after a

rogue trading scandal cost the bank more than $6 billion last year. But

Dimon's supporters pointed to the company's record profits and strong

share performance. We will speak about that shortly. That vote was