:00:00. > :00:00.his run of losses in major finals. Those are the latest headlines from
:00:00. > :00:19.BBC world news. Now for the latest financial news with Sally.
:00:20. > :00:26.Gold in a fix ` crisis talks on the future of the London benchmark for
:00:27. > :00:36.gold prices. The money cycle ` the teams looking to cash in as the Tour
:00:37. > :00:41.de France hits London. Hello, and a very warm welcome. You are with
:00:42. > :00:46.World Business wap report. Also in the programme we will join our team
:00:47. > :00:49.in Mumbai as the UK finance minister arrive there for trade talks. First
:00:50. > :00:54.of all, for nearly a century, a handful of bankers behind closed
:00:55. > :00:58.doors have set the world benchmark for gold prices around the world `
:00:59. > :01:03.but perhaps not for much longer. A series of rate rigging scandals in
:01:04. > :01:07.the Libor and foreign currency markets has sparked calls for
:01:08. > :01:16.reform. The London gold fix is set by four banks currently, that's
:01:17. > :01:22.Barclays, HSBC, society general, and bank of Nova Scotia. But in May
:01:23. > :01:26.Barclays was fined by watchdogs for failing to stop one of its traders
:01:27. > :01:32.trying to manipulate the price. It was concluded Barclays needed better
:01:33. > :01:36.oversight of the staff setting this key benchmark but most now agree
:01:37. > :01:42.much greater transparency is he needed in a system system to prevent
:01:43. > :01:49.any future scandals. I'm joined by the partner of the consultancy firm
:01:50. > :01:53.Fidelis. Explain to us how the current system works. It has been
:01:54. > :02:00.around for a long time hasn't it? It has been going on for 1919. It was
:02:01. > :02:04.five banks and now four, because Deutsche Bank, has resigned from the
:02:05. > :02:09.panel. They meet every day and they decide what is the official price
:02:10. > :02:17.for gold, at which transactions that gold miners and producers and buyers
:02:18. > :02:20.should set ` should settle. And these transactions settle this
:02:21. > :02:24.price, which is set behind closed doors, effectively on phone calls.
:02:25. > :02:30.No`one else knows what's going on during these calls. So it is a very
:02:31. > :02:33.opaque system. And where can the manipulation occur? Well, there are
:02:34. > :02:37.several things going on in this market which are very peculiar. The
:02:38. > :02:43.first one is that, as I said, there's only four banks that are
:02:44. > :02:48.entitled to set this price. Four is a very small number in today's
:02:49. > :02:52.world, with a very globalised financial system. The second thing `
:02:53. > :02:56.so there is a potential for conclusion, that is one of the big
:02:57. > :03:00.allegations which has been put forward in the US class actions have
:03:01. > :03:08.been filed already. The second thing that is going on is that, as I said
:03:09. > :03:12.before, there is a problem with owe owe `` opaquety of the market. As
:03:13. > :03:18.you can imagine, there are gold investors worldwide going from
:03:19. > :03:21.China, India, US, Europe ` they want transparency. They want to know
:03:22. > :03:27.whether the price is correct. So very, very briefly, how will they
:03:28. > :03:31.try and reform this? Well, the world gold council is meeting today to ask
:03:32. > :03:35.for proposals to its members and other market participants on how to
:03:36. > :03:39.reform it, long the lines of what I just said. So it's very possible
:03:40. > :03:43.that they will reform the system in a very similar way to what has
:03:44. > :03:49.happened with Libor, so there will be an independent administration of
:03:50. > :03:53.the benchmark, there will probably be more transparency in terms of the
:03:54. > :03:58.data on which the benchmark is set, and we will get more regulation. I
:03:59. > :04:02.think the light touch regulation of the past is finished. All right,
:04:03. > :04:07.Alberto Thomas, thanks for coming in. We will keep an eye on the
:04:08. > :04:11.developments today as they progress. Now let's talk about another very
:04:12. > :04:15.big event going on in London today ` the Tour de France is coming through
:04:16. > :04:19.the capital. The cyclists will journey through Olympic Park and the
:04:20. > :04:25.Mall to the end stage of the race. But the teams are under frommesh to
:04:26. > :04:28.win funding for their support. They rely entirely on sponsorship to run
:04:29. > :04:34.their teams, but many sponsors in recent years have pulled out so the
:04:35. > :04:40.race is on ` to find new income. A drizzly morning in the Yorkshire
:04:41. > :04:44.Dales and the nine riders of the Belkin team set off for a practice
:04:45. > :04:51.session ` a series of gruelling hill climbs. While the cyclists tear up
:04:52. > :04:56.the countryside, to the beamusement of some local residents, back at
:04:57. > :04:59.their base camp in Leeds, 20 support staff are tending to the riders'
:05:00. > :05:04.bikes ` and their welfare. You can see a professional cycling team in
:05:05. > :05:14.the Tour de France like a travelling circus. You have mechanics, a
:05:15. > :05:19.doctor, coaches, physiotherapists, a lot of people dealing with a team
:05:20. > :05:22.like this. Sponsors spend up to $15 million a year for their cycling
:05:23. > :05:27.teams. In return they get international exposure for their
:05:28. > :05:30.brands. But sponsors can be fickle. Belkin, a consumer electronics firm
:05:31. > :05:35.took over the sponsorship of this pro`cycling team last year, because
:05:36. > :05:39.it wanted to boost its profile in European ` the stronghold of
:05:40. > :05:44.cycling. But now it says it is seeking a global profile ` and
:05:45. > :05:48.cycling, although it's extremely popular television viewers in
:05:49. > :05:53.Europe, is hardly watched at all in markets like the United States. So
:05:54. > :05:57.the team has to raise money from other sources, while it hunts for
:05:58. > :06:02.new sponsorship. One idea has been to start a club for fans, like in
:06:03. > :06:07.football. I would like to call it the seasoned card holder. So for our
:06:08. > :06:12.team but also other sources of income like data rights, image
:06:13. > :06:17.rights, portrait rights, the business club ` it's all providing
:06:18. > :06:21.us with new sources of income. Because events like the Tour de
:06:22. > :06:26.France are watched for free, cycling teams are currently completely
:06:27. > :06:29.reliant on sponsorship. But teams like Belkin are beginning to change
:06:30. > :06:33.the economics of international cycling with new, money`spinning
:06:34. > :06:44.ideas to keep their sport on the road. Now let's talk about what UK
:06:45. > :06:50.finance minister r George Osborne is up to today. He has arrived in India
:06:51. > :07:00.ahead of trade talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Now, so far
:07:01. > :07:05.today he has toured a factory owned by tractor`maker Narendra. This
:07:06. > :07:08.visit is a precursor to a visit by Prime Minister David Cameron later
:07:09. > :07:13.in the year. Let's go to our correspondent in Mumbai for us. Just
:07:14. > :07:20.tell us about the day so far ` how is George Osborne being received?
:07:21. > :07:24.Well, the main objective of this visit, of course, is to establish a
:07:25. > :07:30.relationship with this new government that has recently been
:07:31. > :07:36.elected in India. Mr Osborne and, you know, also the foreign secretary
:07:37. > :07:40.are among the first lot of senior members of Western governments to
:07:41. > :07:45.visit India. Before this we've only had the French foreign minister
:07:46. > :07:49.visiting India. Today they are here in the financial capital of India `
:07:50. > :07:53.Mumbai. They are going to this factory, where it is going to be
:07:54. > :07:58.announced that they are investing a lot of money in research for
:07:59. > :08:00.electric cars. But another pharmaceutical major is also
:08:01. > :08:07.expected to announce an investment in the UK. So those are the two big
:08:08. > :08:11.announcements expected today. But after that, they are meeting
:08:12. > :08:18.business leaders here in Mumbai and also the governor of the central
:08:19. > :08:22.bank here. Very quickly ` how is he being received? Well, you know, we
:08:23. > :08:25.have been scanning through the newspapers here today and there
:08:26. > :08:28.isn't really much excitement about this visit. It is not really being
:08:29. > :08:33.reported, you know, in a huge way. Tomorrow, of course, they are going
:08:34. > :08:36.to be in the capital, deli, they will meet the foreign and finance
:08:37. > :08:39.ministers before meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi but as of now
:08:40. > :08:43.in India it doesn't seem like there's great excitement about the
:08:44. > :08:48.visit. OK, thanks very much indeed for joining us. Other stories: In
:08:49. > :08:55.France, trade unions have threatened to boycott a two`day summit with
:08:56. > :09:01.President Francois Hollande and business leaders. Francois Hollande
:09:02. > :09:07.is relying on a huge deal to push through spending cuts in order to
:09:08. > :09:13.meet union rules. 40 billion Euros of business tax cuts in exchange for
:09:14. > :09:19.a promise for firms to create half a new million new jobs. Unemployment
:09:20. > :09:23.is at a recording 2. 4 million so the unions are demanding guarantees.
:09:24. > :09:29.The Chinese premierier has signed a deal to buy 100 helicopters from
:09:30. > :09:33.Airbus. The contract was signed in the great hall of people, in the
:09:34. > :09:36.presence of Angela Merkel. The germ man Chancellor is set to prioritise
:09:37. > :09:41.economic ties during her state visit. China is Germany's biggest
:09:42. > :09:48.trading partner outside of Europe. The head of Spanish wifi service
:09:49. > :09:52.provider Gowex has resigned after admitting he falsified company
:09:53. > :10:00.accounts. Gars I cannot Martin said the firm would file for bankruptcy.
:10:01. > :10:03.An independent report by goth ham City research first flagged the
:10:04. > :10:08.suspicion of inflated revenue last week. It posted a 28 million Euros
:10:09. > :10:12.profit last year whilst competitors were making losses. That's all from
:10:13. > :10:23.World Business Report, I will see you soon.
:10:24. > :10:34.Many thanks to Sally for that. We will get to the papers in a moment
:10:35. > :10:36.but first a climber in the Peak District has discovered iron Age