:00:00. > :00:19.Marriott and Starwood look set to tie the
:00:20. > :00:25.knot in their mega merger - creating the world's biggest hotel chain.
:00:26. > :00:27.Plus a gift in the post for Chinese manufacturers
:00:28. > :00:39.as Beijing slaps new taxes on foreign goods bought online.
:00:40. > :00:58.Andy tells me I have nine minutes, so there is the deal. That is all I
:00:59. > :01:00.ask for, and I will give you a snapshot of all the news in business
:01:01. > :01:02.and money. Also coming up: We'll be talking to
:01:03. > :01:05.a lawyer who says offshore shell We start in the US,
:01:06. > :01:10.where in a few hours' time, shareholders of the Marriott hotel
:01:11. > :01:12.chain and luxury rival Starwood Hotels and Resorts are expected to
:01:13. > :01:15.vote through a merger to create a Marriott has seen off rival Hyatt,
:01:16. > :01:21.which was also trying to buy Starwood,
:01:22. > :01:24.as well as Chinese insurance firm Anbang, which threatened to cut
:01:25. > :01:27.in on the deal - but it now looks The combined firm will have
:01:28. > :01:38.a stock market value of this - It will control over 5,500 hotels
:01:39. > :01:45.worldwide, including the Marriott, Sheraton, St Regis and W chains,
:01:46. > :01:48.which add up to more than By all those measures,
:01:49. > :01:55.it will be the world's biggest hotel firm, leapfrogging
:01:56. > :02:02.the current leader Hilton. Will it dominate the industry,
:02:03. > :02:04.though? Starwood's boss has described
:02:05. > :02:08.the hotel market as "extremely The merger with Marriott will give
:02:09. > :02:16.them less than 15% of the US market. The industry is now red-hot with
:02:17. > :02:24.merger speculation - with Hyatt, Intercontinental and Carlson,
:02:25. > :02:26.which owns the Radisson chain, But what does this one mean
:02:27. > :02:34.for you if you are a regular guest at Marriotts or or
:02:35. > :02:52.any of the Starwood hotels? With brands like the courtyard,
:02:53. > :02:56.Marriot has 4200 hotels worldwide including a convention and resort
:02:57. > :03:01.business. It wants to add the luxury and personal service which Starwood
:03:02. > :03:09.offers its guests. It has 1300 hotels under prestigious rands such
:03:10. > :03:12.as these: Starwood is popular amongst business travellers for its
:03:13. > :03:17.preferred guest scheme, which has 21 million members. They are offering
:03:18. > :03:22.late checkouts, room upgrades and personal travel ambassadors to make
:03:23. > :03:26.their bookings. Marriot has 54 million people in its loyalty
:03:27. > :03:29.scheme, however it is not as generous. Starwood's regular
:03:30. > :03:34.customers are worried there it was of privileges could be watered down
:03:35. > :03:39.following a merger. The proposed tie-up between Marriot and Starwood
:03:40. > :03:41.is seen as just the first of several in the pipeline of hotel chains like
:03:42. > :03:45.Hyatt also looking for mergers. Let's return to the big story
:03:46. > :03:48.of the week - the revelations about the offshore
:03:49. > :03:50.financial arrangements of the rich The so-called Panama Papers,
:03:51. > :03:55.more than 11 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack
:03:56. > :03:58.Fonseca, have sent out shockwaves from Argentina to Iceland and Russia
:03:59. > :04:01.to China - not to mention here in Britain, where the Prime Minister is
:04:02. > :04:05.facing relentless questions But how much will
:04:06. > :04:17.they really change? Stephen Arthur is a Barrister
:04:18. > :04:20.at Temple Tax Chambers. He used to work for HSBC in Geneva,
:04:21. > :04:34.where he used Mossack Fonseca to Great to have you in the studio.
:04:35. > :04:39.Thank you for coming at this ungodly hour. Interesting stuff. I believe
:04:40. > :04:42.you are about to tell me something we haven't heard from a lot of
:04:43. > :04:52.guests and experts this week. You are going to argue the case that
:04:53. > :04:55.there is a case for offshore structures like we're talking about.
:04:56. > :05:01.Certainly there is. They provide anonymity in a legal way for anyone
:05:02. > :05:04.who doesn't want that personal financial affairs to be open to
:05:05. > :05:09.public scrutiny. Like journalists. So there is nothing wrong with a
:05:10. > :05:16.financial hiding place was Mike to the average layman it sort of
:05:17. > :05:25.doesn't leave a good taste in one's now. -- hiding place? All of the
:05:26. > :05:29.anti- laundering money legislation that one has to adopt, there are
:05:30. > :05:34.very few hiding places if any left. It is a way of providing anonymity
:05:35. > :05:42.for your investment activities. Certainly it seems a few politicians
:05:43. > :05:47.may be criminals and have cracked the system, but the majority of
:05:48. > :05:53.people are acting lawfully. So you are saying not necessarily invading?
:05:54. > :06:01.Tax evasion is illegal, tax avoidance is legal. Correct. But you
:06:02. > :06:05.don't even necessarily getting to tax avoidance, it is just a question
:06:06. > :06:10.of preventing the land Registry in the UK from knowing you personally
:06:11. > :06:18.own six properties in Kensington. I wish! I work for the BBC, mate. All
:06:19. > :06:24.across the press in Britain today, we have lots of pictures of David
:06:25. > :06:29.Cameron saying that he did have money offshore. We have seen the
:06:30. > :06:38.fall of the Icelandic Prime Minister. The Argentinian leader
:06:39. > :06:43.also under pressure at the moment. They have not done anything wrong,
:06:44. > :06:46.you would say? Not at all. I don't see any difference between David
:06:47. > :06:52.Cameron having an investment in offshore funds, and a lot of retired
:06:53. > :06:56.people buying an apartment also. It is a foreign investment. They have
:06:57. > :07:04.to declare the profit when they sell it. Is there any difference between
:07:05. > :07:12.Panama and British Virgin Islands, Delaware, Wyoming and Jersey? The
:07:13. > :07:16.only difference is that in the US, the regulatory treatment is far
:07:17. > :07:19.lighter than in all of those other offshore jurisdictions you
:07:20. > :07:28.mentioned. It is far easier in Wyoming, I believe, to get a driving
:07:29. > :07:34.licence, to open a company, then to ghetto drug licence. I'm out of
:07:35. > :07:39.time. -- then to get a driving licence. Thanks for coming.
:07:40. > :07:42.Let's go to China now, where shoppers wanting to buy
:07:43. > :07:44.foreign goods online will find them more expensive as of today.
:07:45. > :07:47.New policies mean foreign goods bought on e-commerce websites will
:07:48. > :07:49.be treated as imports and subject to various tariffs and
:07:50. > :07:54.The Chinese government says the changes are intended to put
:07:55. > :07:56.foreign and domestic products on an equal footing.
:07:57. > :07:58.Some industry experts, though, say they are designed to give
:07:59. > :08:01.a boost to "made-in-China" goods as part of a plan to encourage
:08:02. > :08:13.Let's talk to our correspondent Robin Brant in Shanghai.
:08:14. > :08:22.Good to see you. On the surface of this, and as a layman, you look
:08:23. > :08:29.foreign goods will be more expensive? This surely does not put
:08:30. > :08:32.them on an even footing as made in China goods, because that is what
:08:33. > :08:38.Beijing want you to believe, right? I think the government's defence of
:08:39. > :08:42.this is that it has not been a level playing field and they have been
:08:43. > :08:46.many companies here in this hugely burgeoning e-commerce sector who
:08:47. > :08:52.have made a really competitive edge of selling goods from Japan, Korea
:08:53. > :08:56.to Chinese people knowing that the tariff, the duty they will pay on
:08:57. > :09:00.those goods, is considerably lower. That is what the Chinese government
:09:01. > :09:06.is trying to address. At the same time, I think there is no doubt it
:09:07. > :09:16.is trying to produce shimmer is -- consumers here in an economy growing
:09:17. > :09:21.to buy more Chinese goods. The issue is quality. The reason people want
:09:22. > :09:24.to buy from Japan and Korea is because it tends to be higher and
:09:25. > :09:30.stuff. They think those products are better. The change is going to be
:09:31. > :09:34.significant. A lot of these goods coming from abroad are subject to
:09:35. > :09:40.about 10% parcel tax. That will go out the window. A VAT will now be
:09:41. > :09:46.applicable, possibly a slice of consumption tax as well, taking up
:09:47. > :09:50.to 17%. That is a near doubling of that 10% tax. It will have a
:09:51. > :09:54.significant impact on some of these goods coming from abroad. There are
:09:55. > :09:58.some retailers here really concerned and see this as an attack on their
:09:59. > :10:02.business model. Others say they are selling luxury goods and this is a
:10:03. > :10:05.small rise in tax. There are think it will have much of an impact or
:10:06. > :10:13.what the consumer he wants. Thank you. We appreciate your time.
:10:14. > :10:16.US telecoms giant Verizon is poised to make a bid for Yahoo - according
:10:17. > :10:20.It says the offer for the struggling internet business
:10:21. > :10:23.could come next week, and would also involve buying Yahoo's share
:10:24. > :10:26.Bloomberg suggests Google is also considering a bid -
:10:27. > :10:34.however all three companies have refused to comment.
:10:35. > :10:37.Don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the
:10:38. > :10:49.I will be back with James to look at some of the papers from around the
:10:50. > :10:51.world. See using. -- see you soon.