26/04/2017 World Business Report

Be prepared for the big Trump cut, and I'm not talking hairstyles.

Donald Trump will present his tax plan today.

Will it make multinationals bring their huge foreign cash piles

And ahead of South Korea's election, we hear from whistle-blowers

on the culture of corruption which brought down that country's

If you have about eight minutes, I promised to give you a fascinating

snapshot of the world of business and money. Let's start in the US.

Shaking up the tax system has been a major theme

Today he's promising what he describes as "A big

announcement" on his planned reforms.

In fact Mr Trump has already said he's planning what he's called

"Maybe the biggest tax cut we've ever had."

During the campaign he talked about cutting the top individual tax

In terms of business, he wants to cut the corporate tax

Mr Trump has also proposed charging American firms a one off tax of just

10% on money they bring back to the US from overseas.

He's also pledged to simplify the overall tax system.

But can he turn all this into legislation?

After all, he's failed to deliver on other key policy objectives,

like healthcare reform and an extensive travel ban.

Geoffrey Yu, head of Investment Office UK at UBS Wealth

It is great to have you with us. Thank you for coming in. The obvious

question is, can America, if they make these cuts, A40 at? One of the

major planks of his health-care bill was to make available half an

billion dollars in savings for this tax cut -- afford it? I think that

is an open question. Let's be clear on this repatriations in, it has

been talked about since 2004 and it has always been a theme in FX

markets -- repatriation thing. If it has been talked about from former

presidents, they have never done it? Once, and ever since, so good luck

to him. Let's stay on that. Is there an argument that someone will say,

say that we bring back the billions and the one-off tax, that the money

won't necessarily end up in the so-called right places. It won't go

into infrastructure. It might end up in shareholder pockets. A study in

2005 showed 96 cents out of a dollar repatriated went into dividends even

though the legislation was specifically designed not to allow

this to happen. It basically went to the shareholders and back into the

company. The corporate tax - he has a point. America, 35%. One of the

highest. The highest in the OECD. The highest in terms of the rich

countries. Ireland is called Point -- 12%. It would give a boost to the

small and medium-sized businesses, the bloodline of any economy. There

is a survey called the NFIB survey, that has surged since he was

elected, after declining for two years, so they are clinging to this

and hoping he delivers. OK. You read a lot of surveys. LAUGHTER You read

a lot of surveys! I was reading this, and you would know it better

than I do, but it is called pass-through companies. President

Trump wants to shake up the system. People have gone, yes, because it is

only going to benefit him. And others. It will benefit the really

wealthy. Is there an argument for that? It comes to distribution at

the end of the day. The populism we have seen over the past 12 months

and beyond comes down to distribution. And who will benefit.

The fear of it across the board and the political sphere is that

ultimately we talk about Brexit and the cost - so, the cost will be on

the people who vote for this. And the gains will not be enough for

them. Where does this push politics first -- that they have to consider.

I have to wrap it up, in general, for Lehman, anytime at tax cut will

give a shot in the arm for the US economy, we should see a boost? --

laymen. If it happens, they will benefit. Thank you for coming in.

And you have just made it in the nick of time. His taxi was late.

Japanese companies have been making headlines,

Fujifilm - still exists! - has delayed its most

recent earnings report after it

And Toshiba is restructuring its business after its US

The Bank of Japan starts its monthly policy meeting today.

Is the central bank doing enough to reform corporate governance?

Rico Hizon is in our Asia Business Hub in Singapore.

That is a lot to cover, Rico! Is the central bank doing enough to reform

corporate governance? It is a bit messy. Yes, it is a bit messy. That

has been one of the pillars of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and he is

Abenomics reform programme. That looks at this point like there is

not enough political will to push through with clear corporate

governance in Japan -- his. That will be a key point to be discussed

in the Bank of Japan meetings over the next two days and they will also

tackle the economy and monetary policy. The bank of Japan, Aaron, is

basically, maybe, upgrading growth projections for the new financial

year but they are also expected to lower inflation projections owing to

the rebound in global trade. Japan has seen a marked increase in

exports, employment growth and industrial production and the IMF

has raised GDP growth outlook for the year in the latest world

economic outlook report. Monetary policy won't likely see movement on

interest rates at this meeting. Corporate governance as we have

discussed will be key because over the last few months we've seen

Japanese companies such as Fujifilm and Toshiba making headlines because

of poor corporate governance issues, so we will likely see key discussion

during this meeting of the board members of the Bank of Japan over

the next 48 hours. OK, Rico, I know that you are going to get your eyes

on that, and I will too, if I can. It is not the most exciting, though,

is it, seriously! OK, good on you, Rico!

With South Korea's presidential election drawing near,

questions are being raised about how corruption in the country

was allowed to flourish at the highest levels

It brought down the President but will the election mean change?

Our Asia business correspondent Karishma Vaswani reports from Seoul

on why it's so rare for employees to speak out.

Get up, get on the train, go to work, repeat. It is this uniform

structured formula that has helped create the massive conglomerates

known as chaebols here. In order to succeed you have to follow the

rules. Speaking out of turn means you might pay a high price. The 2017

whistleblowers awards, it is an exclusive club that nobody really

wants to join. This man said Hyundai tried to cover up a series of engine

defects when he worked there. He brought the cases to light at the

expense of his career. TRANSLATION: Look at me now. I am fired and I

won't be able to find another job. Before I had a high salary with

lifelong employment. I am close to retirement. It is a lot to ask

someone with many years ahead. Those who speak out no doubt they are

marked. One man is the leader of a Samsung union that isn't really

recognised by the company. He says it is the structure of chaebols

which leaves workers powerless. TRANSLATION: I realise this group

management structure meant nothing could be addressed without approval

from the very top. It is a problem rooted in economic history. Chaebols

families would use capital raised from listed shares in company A to

purchase stakes in company B and use capital from that to purchase

company C, until you have this, founding families with

disproportionate control with just a few shares in most entities. Every

now and then someone emerges from this web intact. Every week, this

man leads a small union meeting. He was fired when he reported his firm

for deliberately overcharging customers and for the case in court.

He won. TRANSLATION: I am famous as a whistleblower. I have won six

lawsuits against KT and now no one bothers me, not even my boss. I am

untouchable. It is only the rare few who have nothing to lose who would

dare to speak out. And until that changes, corruption can often go

uncheck all the way to the top. -- unchecked.

Good on you. Shares of McDonalds jumped by more

than 5% in US trade, after the fast food giant reported

better than expected in the first Maccy Dee's pocketed

a profit of $1.2 billion. That's an increase 8% compared

to same period a year ago. Singapore has retained its crown

as the maritime capital of the world, according

to a respected biannual ranking. The Asian city topped the tables

followed by Hamburg, Oslo, Shanghai and London, according

to the International Chamber Don't forget you can get in touch

with me and some of the team I will be back with James to take a

look at some of the papers from around the world.