:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news with
:00:00. > :00:22.The fierce debate over tax havens and are they part of the cause
:00:23. > :00:29.Plus: Back online - profits are finally on the up again
:00:30. > :00:41.We'll find out what's been recharging its batteries.
:00:42. > :01:03.Stephen tells me I've got far too long! Here is the deal, you give me
:01:04. > :01:05.nine minutes and I will give you an exciting and fascinating snapshot of
:01:06. > :01:07.all the latest in the world of business and money.
:01:08. > :01:09.We will be hearing from superstar economist
:01:10. > :01:17.We start with the ongoing global debate over tax havens.
:01:18. > :01:21.The release of the Panama Papers has shone
:01:22. > :01:23.an uncomfortable spotlight on other international financial centres and
:01:24. > :01:28.Singapore has been tipped to overtake Switzerland
:01:29. > :01:31.as the top spot for wealthy people looking to open an offshore account,
:01:32. > :01:38.Big international companies have also rushed to minimise
:01:39. > :01:44.their tax liabilities by setting up shop in places like Singapore.
:01:45. > :01:47.It's perfectly legal, but that doesn't mean it's not controversial
:01:48. > :01:54.For instance, income tax in Singapore is capped
:01:55. > :01:58.at just 20% and that's only for money earned in Singapore.
:01:59. > :02:02.Income earned abroad is taxed at this - zero.
:02:03. > :02:07.In Singapore, companies pay just 17% tax on their profits
:02:08. > :02:10.and none at all on money made abroad, if certain conditions
:02:11. > :02:14.Now compare that to Australia, where the corporate tax rate is 30%
:02:15. > :02:17.and 35% in the US, given that it's easy to see why big
:02:18. > :02:20.firms from those countries channel billions of dollars of earnings
:02:21. > :02:42.Here's our Asia Business correspondent Karishma Vaswani.
:02:43. > :02:48.Setting up an offshore account is perfectly legal. In fact, in some
:02:49. > :02:52.parts of Asia it is as easy as plugging in a few details into your
:02:53. > :02:58.laptop and it will only take you a couple of hours. Pretty simple. But
:02:59. > :03:02.here is where it gets complicated. There a difference between tax
:03:03. > :03:07.evasion tax avoidance. Someone who has income to report and doesn't
:03:08. > :03:13.report it, that illegal. But tax avoidance is different. If you have
:03:14. > :03:17.found a loophole in the tax system which takes advantage of provisions
:03:18. > :03:20.to avoid paying -- paying tax, well then depending on the country you
:03:21. > :03:26.are in you may not be doing anything illegal. But we're not just talking
:03:27. > :03:34.about people here. Companies do it as well. Google, Apple, Microsoft,
:03:35. > :03:38.BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, all household names and all have
:03:39. > :03:40.admitted recently to being under order to buy the Australian tax
:03:41. > :03:45.authorities for having their services and might -- marketing hubs
:03:46. > :03:50.that up in Singapore. So, less tax than in Australia. What they say
:03:51. > :03:54.they aren't doing anything wrong and that Singapore is an important hub
:03:55. > :03:59.for them. At Australia says that if you make money in Australia you
:04:00. > :04:05.should be paying taxes there as well. Singapore has a series of you
:04:06. > :04:09.on tax evasion and doesn't tolerate tax related crimes. Hong Kong has
:04:10. > :04:13.chimed in as well. In fact, many Asian countries ever have signed up
:04:14. > :04:18.to a commitment to exchange tax information with each other by 2018.
:04:19. > :04:23.-- more tax information. But frankly it is all about who goes first. If
:04:24. > :04:27.one offshore banking centre opens itself up to greater scrutiny
:04:28. > :04:35.there's a good chance customers will flee, chasing the next most secret
:04:36. > :04:37.place to park their cash. She was shrouded in the dark! Let's get
:04:38. > :04:40.another view. French economist Thomas Piketty
:04:41. > :04:44.is famous for highlighting the growing gap between rich
:04:45. > :04:47.and poor in his 2013 book Capital He has been speaking to
:04:48. > :04:52.our economics editor Kamal Ahmed, telling him the world won't be able
:04:53. > :05:08.to stop rising inequality without I believe in markets, but I think we
:05:09. > :05:14.need strong institutions, we need more financial transparency and more
:05:15. > :05:18.public knowledge about who is benefiting from growth in order to
:05:19. > :05:26.adjust our policy, our tax policy, social policy, educational
:05:27. > :05:31.policies, so as to make sure that growth does not only benefit a small
:05:32. > :05:36.group of global elites but benefits the middle class and the poor and
:05:37. > :05:40.all of society. Recent evidence from the Institute for Fiscal Studies
:05:41. > :05:44.suggests that income inequality has reduced since the recession. Do you
:05:45. > :05:51.think that's right? If you compare it to the 1980s and 70s with today,
:05:52. > :05:56.20 or 30 years, not only the US but also the UK and most developed
:05:57. > :06:02.countries, we've had rising inequality. Also if you were to look
:06:03. > :06:08.at wealth inequality you will see a definite rise of concentration of
:06:09. > :06:11.property in a country like the UK. I think it is clear when you have the
:06:12. > :06:18.kind of real estate prices that you have in London, it means access to
:06:19. > :06:24.property for working families, with no initial family rent, is
:06:25. > :06:30.incredibly difficult. What do you think are the economic threats now?
:06:31. > :06:36.To me the main problem with rising inequality in the long run if there
:06:37. > :06:43.is a risk that it leads to a political instability, in some cases
:06:44. > :06:50.to the rise of nationalism. When you don't manage to solve your local, --
:06:51. > :06:54.local and domestic inequality in a peaceful manner, it is always
:06:55. > :06:59.tempting to blame others. So you can blame foreign workers, like the
:07:00. > :07:03.extreme right in France, you can blame foreign countries or Europe in
:07:04. > :07:08.some cases, you can blame... In France we like to blame Germany or
:07:09. > :07:10.China, Britain, people like to blame Europe, but the point is this is not
:07:11. > :07:16.going to solve the problem. We are also looking at South Korean
:07:17. > :07:19.tech giant Samsung. It's predicting a rise in operating
:07:20. > :07:22.profits of more than 10% for It expects to make $5.72 billion
:07:23. > :07:28.in the quarter, way above analyst expectations,
:07:29. > :07:31.pointing to strong sales It would be a return to profit
:07:32. > :07:39.growth for the struggling smartphone division after a tough three years,
:07:40. > :07:42.amid growing competition from Apple, Satish Lele is a Vice President
:07:43. > :08:06.at research firm Frost Sullivan. Great to have you on the programme.
:08:07. > :08:10.It has been a very interesting ride for Samsung. I guess like Apple
:08:11. > :08:16.Samsung has been a victim of its own success. If people out there wanted
:08:17. > :08:21.a son that probably already had one, right? -- Samsung. In some cases it
:08:22. > :08:25.is an upgrade to the next version, but if you look at the overall
:08:26. > :08:33.growth of the smartphone market think globally that growth is more
:08:34. > :08:38.single digit growth, which again as you can see puts a lot of pressure
:08:39. > :08:43.on companies like Apple and Samsung. On that subject, we keep hearing or
:08:44. > :08:50.I keep reading that the key for these companies to sustain growth is
:08:51. > :08:53.to gain market share. I guess that's what Samsung has been doing
:08:54. > :09:00.certainly with China and most recently India. Yes, with India I
:09:01. > :09:05.think Samsung has really cracked it. They have a well structured strategy
:09:06. > :09:12.for India and they are leading, as far as market share is concerned. It
:09:13. > :09:15.is essentially based on the entire localisation efforts that they have
:09:16. > :09:18.done, in terms of understanding the Indian market, in terms of the
:09:19. > :09:23.penetration scene in the middle class and pricing their entire
:09:24. > :09:26.product range in such a way that it is able to maintain that kind of
:09:27. > :09:31.market share in India. I think it has been a very successful strategy.
:09:32. > :09:40.Successful in that Indian strategy. We also recently heard that they've
:09:41. > :09:44.just... Not long ago they launched Samsung pay in China. There's also
:09:45. > :09:49.been a push on the next step in technology for these guys. Samsung
:09:50. > :09:53.looking at virtual reality, augmented reality. That's the way
:09:54. > :09:59.going forward, I guess? Yes. It tends to move away from hardware and
:10:00. > :10:02.moving more towards how it can provide more experience to
:10:03. > :10:09.consumers, as well as provide a whole gamut of services around the
:10:10. > :10:14.mobile business. Things like virtual reality, all of these things are the
:10:15. > :10:23.new areas that the unsung is really trying to move into in terms of its
:10:24. > :10:25.ability to gain more and more revenues. -- Samsung. Thank you very
:10:26. > :10:33.much. I just want to quickly show you the
:10:34. > :10:39.markets in Asia. In particular the Nikkei is slightly up, but the yen
:10:40. > :10:45.has risen to something like a 17 month peak. That's just trampled
:10:46. > :10:48.Japanese exports. The stronger value yen makes it more expensive for us
:10:49. > :10:49.to buy their goods, so we buy less and they make less, basically.
:10:50. > :10:52.Don't forget you can get in touch with me and some
:10:53. > :10:57.I will be back shortly to take a look at the papers from around the
:10:58. > :11:04.world. One of the world's rarest
:11:05. > :11:06.and most sought after books has been discovered in a private library
:11:07. > :11:13.on the Scottish island of Bute. The First Folio of
:11:14. > :11:16.William Shakespeare, published