:00:01. > :00:04.and Israel. Those are the latest headlines from
:00:04. > :00:14.BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news in World Business
:00:14. > :00:22.
:00:22. > :00:28.Barclays again. Its fined nearly $500 million for manipulating the
:00:28. > :00:30.electricity market in California. All eyes on Bernanke - the Fed
:00:31. > :00:40.chairman gives his views on the health of the world's largest
:00:41. > :00:46.
:00:46. > :00:48.economy and how soon he's planning I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the
:00:48. > :00:55.programme: Profits triple at Alibaba - China's largest e-commerce
:00:55. > :01:00.company. We'll have the details. British bank Barclays is once again
:01:00. > :01:03.paying for the sins of its past. It's been fined nearly $500 million
:01:03. > :01:13.by US regulators for manipulating energy markets in California and
:01:13. > :01:13.
:01:13. > :01:16.other states from November 2006 to December 2008. It has 30 days to pay
:01:16. > :01:25.the fine. Barclays has denied any wrongdoing, and says it will fight
:01:25. > :01:35.the case in court. Michelle Fleury has the details from New York.
:01:35. > :01:37.
:01:37. > :01:42.Barclays was's reputation has taken a blurred. -- are clays reputation.
:01:42. > :01:47.They allegedly tried to read California's electricity market in
:01:47. > :01:54.2006 and 2008. When traded his colourful language to boast how they
:01:54. > :01:57.manipulated the market. Barclays said the penalty is without basis.
:01:57. > :02:03.It intends to vigourously defend this matter. This is the latest
:02:03. > :02:08.scandal to affect the bank. Regulators on both sides of the
:02:08. > :02:10.Atlantic find the company over its role in the LIBOR scandal. This fine
:02:10. > :02:13.is much bigger than the one it paid than.
:02:13. > :02:17.It happens just twice a year but when it does, the financial world
:02:17. > :02:24.sits up and listens. Chairman of America's Central Bank Ben Bernanke
:02:24. > :02:28.will face US lawmakers today when he testifies on Capitol Hill. And it's
:02:28. > :02:31.important he gets his message just right this time. When grilled by an
:02:31. > :02:34.economics committee in Washington on May the 22nd the Fed Chairman made a
:02:34. > :02:44.rare misstep and left markets confused as to when and to what
:02:44. > :02:48.
:02:48. > :02:56.extent he will begin to scale back stimulus. Samira Hussain reports.
:02:56. > :03:01.Gears are the future titans of Wall Street. -- these are the future.
:03:01. > :03:04.They may only be high school students, but as members of the
:03:04. > :03:09.future investors club of America, they are learning about the US
:03:09. > :03:15.economy. I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn everything
:03:15. > :03:19.when I am young. It would be valuable information. I have learned
:03:19. > :03:23.all of the basics about stocks and what to do with your money. While
:03:23. > :03:33.there is no better place to learn about stocks and Hugh on Wall
:03:33. > :03:37.
:03:37. > :03:42.Street, these future investors also spent time in the classroom. As they
:03:42. > :03:48.learn about its beginnings, the wider financial world is trying to
:03:48. > :03:55.interpret the Federal Reserve's plans for the economy. They analyse
:03:55. > :03:59.domestic and comic -- and economic conditions... The Federal Reserve
:03:59. > :04:03.has been supporting this country's economic recovery by purchasing
:04:03. > :04:09.bonds and keeping interest rates near zero. That means understanding
:04:09. > :04:14.the US central bank has become pretty key to financial literacy.
:04:14. > :04:18.The Federal Reserve bank has a big job. And so does its chairman. When
:04:18. > :04:26.he makes his way to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, his message has to be
:04:26. > :04:32.clear as he reassures investors. Although the Fed may start slowly
:04:32. > :04:37.reducing its policies in the next few months, that will be a slow
:04:37. > :04:41.process. Don't panic. It will take a long time and they will keep
:04:41. > :04:44.interest rates very low for very long. He will repeat that message
:04:44. > :04:49.over and over again. Ben Bernanke could take a lesson from these
:04:49. > :04:56.students. Perhaps speaking to investors as if they are high school
:04:56. > :05:01.students could he exhorted that clarity. -- could be that door to
:05:01. > :05:03.that priority. Now let's turn to the shadowy world
:05:03. > :05:07.of political lobbying. British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected
:05:07. > :05:10.to bring out new rules today in an attempt to clean up the industry.
:05:10. > :05:15.The bill will force political lobbyists to declare who is paying
:05:15. > :05:17.them to try to influence government policy. It's not just an issue in
:05:17. > :05:20.the UK. A recent report by Transparency International says that
:05:20. > :05:24.only six countries in Europe have some form of regulation over
:05:24. > :05:30.lobbying. In Brussels, it's estimated that up to 30,000 people
:05:30. > :05:34.could be employed to influence European legislation.
:05:34. > :05:38.With me is Kevin Craig, managing director of PLMR. That stands for
:05:38. > :05:44.Political Lobbying & Media Relations.
:05:44. > :05:51.Good morning. Tell asked what we are expecting in terms of these rules
:05:51. > :05:55.today and if they will make any change. -- tell us. We do not know
:05:55. > :06:01.what the bill would contain. It is not published yet. It is a long
:06:01. > :06:04.overdue bill to force lobbyists to register that they are doing this
:06:04. > :06:10.work in and around the British Parliament. A couple of huge
:06:10. > :06:14.problems for the Prime Minister, who is a former lobbyist, we believe the
:06:14. > :06:20.requirements will be only applicable to those working in consultancies
:06:20. > :06:25.like mine. They will miss a huge raft of people who lobby in-house.
:06:25. > :06:29.If they are going to ask professional consultancy personnel
:06:29. > :06:35.is to register, the whole thing is pointless and it will miss the
:06:35. > :06:41.intention that the coalition set out for it. Those of us who are not
:06:41. > :06:46.inside the political world, as it were, we as she that there is
:06:46. > :06:54.backhanders going on all the time. In the past, we had cash for
:06:54. > :07:00.questions dramas. How bad is it? This whole notion of large amounts
:07:00. > :07:08.of money being passed around in dark corners is a myth. As a lobbyist and
:07:08. > :07:17.public relations person, I am fed up. The recent lobbying scandals has
:07:18. > :07:23.been about dishes lobbyist trapping naive MPs and peers who lose their
:07:24. > :07:29.senses for a moment. -- fictitious. Lobbying is how you make your case,
:07:29. > :07:37.how to make the government to pass legislation declined your working
:07:37. > :07:44.for once. What there is is a misunderstanding. In the last year,
:07:44. > :07:49.public misunderstanding has gone up by 10%. Something needs to be done.
:07:49. > :07:54.The coalition promised it. But the legislation we expect today is going
:07:54. > :08:00.to miss the Pointe. America, which has an effective revelatory regime,
:08:00. > :08:05.is the best examples so far. In Europe, 1500 amendments in the
:08:05. > :08:12.current Tobacco directive. Many offers are worried that the British
:08:12. > :08:16.legislation will miss the boat. -- of us are worried.
:08:16. > :08:20.Coca-Cola is struggling to sell more soda. The world's largest beverage
:08:20. > :08:24.maker says bad weather at home and flooding in parts of Europe caused
:08:24. > :08:29.its profits to fall 4%. But demand for soda has been falling overall as
:08:29. > :08:31.consumers become more health conscious.
:08:31. > :08:37.Internet giant Yahoo continues to struggle, reporting declining ad
:08:37. > :08:43.revenue in the second quarter of 2013. It made a profit of $331
:08:43. > :08:53.million. That's up 46% on the same time last year, but it was due
:08:53. > :08:54.
:08:54. > :08:57.mostly to the company's investment detail. It is China's largest
:08:57. > :09:02.e-commerce company has seen its net profits triple in the first quarter
:09:02. > :09:05.of this year. An impressive performance that's fuelling the
:09:05. > :09:15.speculation the company is poised to announce it's ready to float on the
:09:15. > :09:15.
:09:15. > :09:23.financial markets. Rico Hizon joins us from Singapore.
:09:23. > :09:29.Nice to see you. Feel us in. numbers surprised many analysts. The
:09:29. > :09:38.catalyst for this a lot performance is the online pay in system and
:09:39. > :09:44.China's booming commerce. The company's public offering could be
:09:44. > :09:49.around the corner. The chief executive said the firm is ready for
:09:49. > :09:52.an IPO but has not decided when or where to invest the shares. But
:09:52. > :09:59.ahead of the public offering, they made some key investments this year.
:09:59. > :10:04.They invested in a travel website. It follows the into other
:10:04. > :10:14.investments made by other companies. It bought an 80% stake in a Twitter
:10:14. > :10:17.