:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest
:00:00. > :00:16.financial news with Sally Bundock and World Business Report.
:00:17. > :00:23.Europe desperately seeks a credible response to Russia, without a cost
:00:24. > :00:26.to member states. Could Toyota's massive pay`out for
:00:27. > :00:27.hiding information in a recall case be a glimpse into General Motors
:00:28. > :00:43.future? Welcome to World Business Report.
:00:44. > :00:46.I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the programme ` big spending by China's
:00:47. > :00:52.Tencent has hit its profits. I'll be joined by Rico shortly who'll have
:00:53. > :00:56.the details. European Union leaders will arrive for their spring summit
:00:57. > :01:03.in a few hours and their agenda has been changed to discuss the crisis
:01:04. > :01:06.in Ukraine. For more than 20 years Russia was welcomed into the
:01:07. > :01:08.international community. European companies, particularly German
:01:09. > :01:15.manufacturers, rushed to export to Russia. The City of London opened
:01:16. > :01:18.its doors to Russian funds. Now Europe's leaders will discuss how to
:01:19. > :01:26.stiffen sanctions against Russia after the annexation of Crimea. On
:01:27. > :01:29.Monday the US ordered the freezing of assets and travel bans on 11
:01:30. > :01:37.individuals, while the EU imposed such sanctions on 21 people. But
:01:38. > :01:40.this action was largely dismissed by President Putin. Now the EU's
:01:41. > :01:43.potential sanctions list is thought to include more than 100 people
:01:44. > :01:51.including rich Russian businessmen with significant interests in the EU
:01:52. > :01:57.and US. Meanwhile the United States and the UK have also warned of
:01:58. > :01:59.expelling Russia from the G8. Alexei Zakharov, Assistant professor at
:02:00. > :02:10.Stare University, at the Higher School of Economics is in Moscow.
:02:11. > :02:16.Good morning. Thank you for being on the programme. Give us your take on
:02:17. > :02:28.how all this is being digester where you are in Moscow amongst your
:02:29. > :02:35.peers? The sanctions are very small. It is just restrictions against a
:02:36. > :02:42.few officials. I do not think they will have any effect. And if it is
:02:43. > :02:50.widened to 100 plus officials? You see, Crimea... The official stand is
:02:51. > :02:57.that Crimea is part of Russian territorial. When sanctions are
:02:58. > :03:04.imposed, you are requiring a country to shed a part of its territory.
:03:05. > :03:16.This is what you intend to accomplish and if so sanctions must
:03:17. > :03:23.be very tough indeed because... This Crimea event was very popular in the
:03:24. > :03:29.country. Opinion polls showed people welcomed Crimea becoming part of
:03:30. > :03:42.Russia and I believe that Vladimir Putin is extremely resolved to not
:03:43. > :03:49.let... To not reverse this... Not to let Crimea revert to Ukraine. I
:03:50. > :03:56.think there is much determination to resist any kind of sanctions. If the
:03:57. > :04:03.situation escalates, and Vladimir Putin is resolute, what are your
:04:04. > :04:11.fears in terms of the impact on the Russian economy if sanctions broaden
:04:12. > :04:19.beyond individuals? The impact can be hard but you must know that, in
:04:20. > :04:24.given the level of propaganda power that the Russian government and
:04:25. > :04:33.Putin has, these economic downturn will be firmly blamed on the
:04:34. > :04:44.international community. I do not know how much Putin's popularity
:04:45. > :04:50.would suffer if the sanctions that are imposed are so hard that they
:04:51. > :05:00.result in significant reduction of Russian GDP. Thank you very much.
:05:01. > :05:06.Really interesting to get your ear. `` perspective. That is a story we
:05:07. > :05:09.are following closely and will keep you up`to`date. Markets around the
:05:10. > :05:13.world are reacting to the latest move by the US Federal Reserve. As
:05:14. > :05:16.most predicted it will reduce by a further ten billion dollars a month
:05:17. > :05:22.its massive stimulus to the world's largest economy. But new chair,
:05:23. > :05:27.Janet Yellen, also gave some guidance as to when interest rates
:05:28. > :05:35.will start to go up in the US. Rico Hizon is in our Asia business hub
:05:36. > :05:41.with the latest market reaction. Nice to see you. Tell us about the
:05:42. > :06:00.market reaction and a little bit more about what she had to say? In
:06:01. > :06:02.Asia, they are quite disappointed by those statements by Janet Yellen.
:06:03. > :06:15.They were caught off guard. This is not good news. The central banks are
:06:16. > :06:20.to assess. Countries will have to raise borrowing costs and it does
:06:21. > :06:40.not help sentiment that China's economic growth is slowing down as
:06:41. > :06:43.well. If you take a look at the numbers from Tokyo to Hong Kong,
:06:44. > :06:50.Sydney and soul, it is not just stocks. Tel is about the Chinese
:06:51. > :06:57.e`commerce, Tencent? We are seeing its share price is a volatile. Some
:06:58. > :07:06.of the losses are now in positive territory. Investors are still
:07:07. > :07:11.trying to digestive venues. Despite recording a jump in revenue of
:07:12. > :07:24.nearly $10 million, it had a low profit growth. Tencent moving into
:07:25. > :07:33.financial services, impacted by the banking sector are also worrying
:07:34. > :07:37.investors. This could hurt profitability. The Japanese carmaker
:07:38. > :07:42.Toyota finally reached a $1.2 billion settlement with US
:07:43. > :07:44.regulators on Wednesday. The four year criminal investigation came
:07:45. > :07:46.after Toyota recalled more than ten million vehicles over issues with
:07:47. > :07:55.brakes, accelerator pedals and floor mats. But as this chapter on safety
:07:56. > :07:59.reporting closes for Toyota, so it opens for General Motors. GM has now
:08:00. > :08:01.recalled one point six million cars but the US justice department has
:08:02. > :08:03.launched an investigation into launched an investigation into
:08:04. > :08:17.whether the company reported the recall in a fair and legal way.
:08:18. > :08:23.As someone who spent 90 minutes in her car every day, Samantha needs
:08:24. > :08:32.her car to get her where she is going safely. But problems with the
:08:33. > :08:38.ignition has the manufacturer calling that safety into question.
:08:39. > :08:47.That is the car I had been looking for. I was very happy. So excited.
:08:48. > :08:56.This is my first new car and now, IM upset and disappointed and angry
:08:57. > :08:59.that I wasn't let down. GM is recalling more than 4 million cars
:09:00. > :09:09.and has recently admitted it knew of the faulty it `ish and switches as
:09:10. > :09:21.early as 2004. `` ignition switches. They are excepting responsibility.
:09:22. > :09:31.We have apologised but that is just one step in the process. GM has been
:09:32. > :09:41.struggling to shed its image and since then has been able to
:09:42. > :09:53.regain... How it responds now will be a big test for the new GM. That
:09:54. > :10:02.is World Business Report. We will review the press in a moment. The
:10:03. > :10:10.budget featuring. Many thanks. Ministers are defending
:10:11. > :10:14.the pension reform, saying they will give people greater control of their
:10:15. > :10:20.finances. The changes will allow people to cash in part or all of
:10:21. > :10:21.their pension policies instead of being forced to buy a new