28/10/2013 World Business Report

was devastating news. Those are the latest headlines. It

is time for the latest money news. This is World Business Report.

Mizuho Bank admits that it lacked awareness by lending to members of

Japan's criminal underworld. But it may is get a fine. Local workers

fight back. Singaporeans gathered to protest against government plans to

boost the economy by bringing in foreign Labour.

A warm welcome to you. In just a minute, we will be looking at yet

another bank in trouble over LIBOR fixing. But Japanese bank Mizuho has

reported its findings into how it failed to put a stop to loans to

yakuza gangsters. According to a panel of Lloydy is a port in ``

appointed by Mizuho, the bank lacked the awareness to refuse loans to

underworld figures. The scandal is highly regrettable. What exactly is

that yakuza `` Mizuho is accused of doing.

This dates back to 2010, when it came to light that one of Mizuho's

subsidiaries had learned about 2 million US dollars to what are

called, antisocial forces. That is a euphemism. It means gangsters. They

were given to 130 individuals, mainly for car loans. It is illegal

for ranks to loan money to people who have links to organised crime.

After that discovery, the senior management at Mizuho did nothing

about it. It was not until the financial services authority started

an investigation into the loans that it came to light. It came out in

public. The FSA has heavily criticised the bank for not doing

anything about it for that long period of time.

Just explain exactly through these yakuza are.

It is a general name given to anybody who is involved in organised

crime in Japan. There are some very large and powerful gang

organisations, such as the biggest organised crime gang in Japan, but

their run many smaller gangs and individuals who have affiliations to

organised crime groups. But in order to try to squeeze these groups, the

Japanese government has been tightening up the laws in recent

years to squeeze their access to financial resources. One of them is

an old trick they have been carrying on for years, which is to go and

take loans from banks, make the first two or three instalments on

repair men is, and then simply not repay the loans and walk away with

the money. `` repayments. The timing is particularly

unfortunate. A policy paper to boost Singapore's

population to nearly 7 million x 2030 has caused a fair and art of

controversy across the city. That is because the plan involves bringing

in foreign workers to offset the nation's declining birth rate. In a

rare show of public angst, thousands of locals have been gathering to

protest against the plan. This balancing act between a foreign

influx versus domestic workers, it is an issue that has been around for

a while. In Singapore and in many other

countries as well. They are in a same `` a similar boat. The policy

paper was released much earlier this year. The government predict that

the population would grow to 6.9 x 2030. Immigrants making up nearly

half that figure. That has caused quite a lot of consternation in

Singapore, and a series of protests as well. I took a closer look at the

issue. This park, slightly smaller than a

football field, is the only place that Singaporeans are allowed to

gather to protest. It is total nonsense to think that we have no

talent amongst us. Early this month, a few hundred gathered to

demonstrate against a government proposal to boost the nation's

population to 7 million, from the current 5.5 million. On a small

island, it is more than an issue of overcrowding, it may mean foreigners

taking away the jobs. I guess the government has listened to us. They

have introduced a few measure to cut the influx of foreigners. I think

this will be our last protest. Some of the recent measures including

require companies to consider hiring locals before foreigners. Boot ``

boosting the unemployment rate, it is more about pay rises that have

stayed stagnant. Salaries in blue`collar jobs have stayed low. It

means Singapore has among the widest gaps between rich and poor in the

world. It may be part of the reason why Singapore's government, led by

the ruling party, has been losing popularity among voters. Speaking to

the BBC as the rules were announced, Singapore's Minister of trade says

the measures were not an attempt to win back voters. It is a light touch

policy. It is a policy that is quite comp report to what happens in many

other economies around the world, which are equally open. `` parable.

It is not trying to say that Singaporeans must be high at first,

it says there should be a level playing field. The level playing

field is what these protesters are seeking. In the last decade, 1

million foreigners had joined the Singapore's ranks. Roughly one in

four people are now from elsewhere. The policies may go some way to

alleviate the concerns of Singaporeans, who feel they have

been left out of the country's success.

The government are keen to stress that Singapore, which has a big

financial centre, continues to be open for business, in spite of the

new measures. The influx of foreigners is an issue that

continues to divide the population. It shows how tough it is to strike

the right balance when it comes to boosting the workforce against a

backdrop of a declining population. The Dutch bank Rabobank is bracing

itself for a fine, in relation to its role in the recent LIBOR fixing

scandal. According to a report in the Financial Times, Rabobank could

strike a deal to pay US and British regulators about $1 billion to

settle allegations that it helped manipulate the benchmark lending

rate. It would be the fifth penalty in relation to the global

investigation, and the second biggest after UBS was forced to pay

and record fine of $1.5 billion. A settlement could be announced early

this week. Good to see you this morning. $1 billion. That is what is

expect it. The June expect it? Not initially. This is bigger than we

previously thought. We knew that UBS had repaid $1.5 billion, but we have

also seen fines from some of the UEFA `` UK companies, about the $400

million mark. So this is much bigger than we thought. We thought the

average was down. There will be more focus, not just on LIBOR, but also

the Japanese yen indices. There is a bit more complexity. The size of the

fine, it indicates how deeply Rabobank was involved in all of

this, how deep in trouble it was. It is very surprising. They announced

they had taken some provisions for this. We were aware that they were

in communication with some of the regulators, but we did not believe

it was this big. There are a few questions as to why it is so large.

Surprising because of the reputation that Rabobank has. It is a

cooperative, it appears to be a friendly bank. It does not go with

the reputation. That is right. It is a mutual. It is used to farming

markets and commodity markets. It is not seen as a risky investment

bank. So it is a surprise. It will tarnish their reputation.

Let's have a quick look to see how Asian markets are getting on.

`` goodbye. One of the main stories from across

the UK involves Universal Credit. It is the Government's flagship welfare

reform, and it is beginning `` beginning the next phase of