Monetary policy is increasing. Although one of the 8 member board act the plan to cash supply at a yearly pace of ¥80 trillion. Compare that to last month when the policy had the backing of the majority of only 1. The decision comes after taxosed plans for a sales increase. For more on the help of japans finances and economic by ourhip, we are joined correspondent in tokyo. Hello. The bank of japan board seemed willing to get behind kuroda. Yes. If theres a shred of good news, it came today. There had been concerned there would be a deep rift on the policy board at the bank of japan about expanding the balance even more radically. They seem to be on board. It would have been crazy given the fact japan is in a recession. What is the Political Risk of this election . Could he be weakened by this . Possibly. He said last night that if they lose the majority he would resign. I think the author that are pretty low. They could lose some of support in the lower house. It raises the question of how affect this the tough legislative initiatives or with they reform possibility of that happen if they are weakened. What we think about budget talks and the finance ministry . Will they continue to push him about Fiscal Consolidation . Yes. I think there is going to be continued pressure. I think that was in abes comments about long rage Fiscal Consolidation. Japan has a gargantuan debt load. The good news is the bond market doesnt seem to be freaking out at the moment about pushing out the tax hike. That probably gives abe a little bit more cover. If he does well in the snap election, has public support, that would help. Does he need to regain momentum in the next year . I think he has to do something. He has to put some points on the board. Since abenomics was launched two years ago, we have been waiting forthe heavy lift regulatory moves that would set japan back on a longterm growth path. Youre talking about a tax reform. Busting open the greco cultural and health care sectors. Agricultural and healthcare sectors. A lot. Sk ks French Nuclear company has continueed to favorable marketable conditions. Airline hide is here to explain the reasons why. They had a few major issues to deal with. August. Have back in four months ago is when they slash the outlook for 2014. Now we hear they are not driving up revenue those had been the targets. This dates back to 2011. Difficulty in the market started to creep not creep in, but slammed in their asus. Faces. They cite the current delay as to the restart in the japanese reactors. Wanting to invest in Nuclear Reactor nurse reactors. This is what areva keeps saying. Many difficulties are of its own making. They have had project delays particularly in finland. One finnish customer customer payments have been postponed. They had previous investments in mines. Is acrossrts this the World Company that is struggling to make strides. Theyre having to slash. 2014 was downgraded. 2016 look stuff. Lets talk about management. They trying to pursue a management shakeup. This comes at a difficult time. Areva not only is restructuring itself after the disaster, the ceo said they will sell assets. Slas h costs. He is gone now. Yeah. Awful at the same time. Having to step down for health reasons. It is a Company Without their leader at the helm. And it is the only French Company facing challenges. This is the effect. What happens to areva hurts the government. France hasicity de come out with an announcement. Normandy hasons in also delayed. This has been a decade in the making. We know these are difficult engineering projects. They are five years late. Areva has had late deliveries of equipment. There have been difficulties to put it mildly. This was meant to be the knowhow. A french areva getting together and showing the world how it was done. It is embarrassing. Costs more than doubled where the expected. They are five years late. They are learning their lessons. Projects are still on course. We will keep them on track. Edf is meant to be building reactors in the u. K. Caroline hyde on the areva story. Back to politics. Candidates is ahead in the polls. Ukip no sugar coating could hide it youd britains main Political Parties like many of their counterparts have fallen out of favor. 23 . 32 . 12 . Owner customer poll echoes the forecast. The overwhelming win for the Independence Party for ukip in this postcard perfect town. Haveelection that would been a blip on the election calendar into a Major Political fight in a castle town not unfamiliar with epic battles. Markone was triggered by reckless when a local politician deflected from the conservative party. We need to reform our political system. Keep our promises. The ruling conservatives had banked on a growing economy and falling unemployment to keep voters on board. Antiimmigration and is disillusioned with the establishment. It could be a step in next years general election. Raising the odds of an british exit from that eu. That is a scenario that would be a disaster for britains economy and the eu. They will be hoping the recent love for ukip melts away i may 2015 by may 2015. Mmm, ukip. Tommy kenzie, bloomberg. Polls open tomorrow. Results are expected in the early hours of friday u. K. Time. Join us on twitter. Let us know what you want to see more of and less of. It is stand on my four head. Forehead. On my [laughter] he had to you what say about japans most ambitious stimulus plans and the decision to maintain it after the break. Time for todays company news. Has launched a probe into possible Insider Trading at bnp paribas. Prosecutors say it is too early to determine who may be involved. The investigation could be dropped if no evidence of wrongdoing is uncovered. Bnp paribas refused to comment. Dismissed sachs has one of its traders over his alleged behavior during his time at another company. He identified the trader. Aswas identified internally a participant and transcript released earlier this month. Bloomberg news was unable to reach him for comment. Firm itsboard will a mobile unit is key to its growth strategy. That is according to the chief executive. Telecom italia is a secondlargest wireless carrier. It told bloomberg their plans havent yet been finalized. We bought frequencies. We are created ready to create more network. All the rest will be discussed by the board. We will have more on the Growth Prospects and prospects later in the show when joined by the ceo. Stay with us for that. Had record of japan easing as economy slips into recession. Out of the to pull stagnation is still a work and progress despite doubts from the private sector. Listen to what Mohamed Elerian told bloomberg. We were waiting for the third arrow. It hasnt come yet. The private sector doesnt trust you as much as you think they should. The minute they think you are going to raise taxes, the economy goes down. Lets bring our guest into the conversation. Morning. He must be breathing a huge sigh of relief. 81. That is a really for him, isnt it . Yes. It is a response. Japan is akin recession. Stance is in recession. The aggressives dance was the right thing to do of the aggressive stance was the right thing to do. Weve got to delay consumption tax hike until 2017. That kind of reform process was part of the overall package of economics. Otherwise, it is more qe. Theres a big . Flying out there of how effective qe. How worried should they be about the fiscal situation . Not freaking out at the increase in the sales tax. Did we read too much into japans need to increase the sales tax . How do we interpret that . They are not going to freak out. There is the bank of japan. They are taking virtually all of the auction stock available. Case,g as that is the theres no oversupply of bonds. This is the sort of ratcheting scheme the bank of japan allergies develop of gdp. Talking more of seven to 5 . 75 . That is a huge Central Bank Balance sheet. At some point, the amount of buying has to lessen. That is when they are in trouble. That is not probably a story for the next 612 months. And there is a bloomberg story this morning. Talks about raising saying another country no man, woman, child would buy stock in a country like that. There is no reasonable fear of the slightest capital from the Company Country for that reason. The other point in the article was in france, germany, u. K. , sales tax has nearly doubled that. It highlights the underlying fragility of the economy. Know hike is coming, we will buy things before it kicks in. 8. When from 5 to the forbearance. By. Hey cannot get stock, the level of Government Debt is so huge. It is a multidecade process. How low does the yen go . Tell me how low it can go. In wek we may be moved to such a strong degree of the past 18 months. That is a very substantial depreciation. Longerterm prospects, probably goes further. Thank you. Talk more about europe when we return and the u. K. Stay with us on countdown. We are back. We were talking earlier about japan. Lets talk about the u. K. And politics. A by election is coming up in this country. In parliament. Ip had you contextualize this vote . Right question. What is the context and the outcome . The launchpad for the general election. It shows you the degree of at least populous antieuropean leaning the makes it difficult for the tory party and throws and the next election level of uncertainty and how it will be pieced together. Were used to a two party system and we are moving toward a multiparty coalition. Are so many moving parts. Hedge funds and speculators decide to go short. Will be get a rate hike . Where do you think we should focus more . The u. K. From a macro point of view is doing well. The rate profile is kind of priced in already. Anything that involves the tour tory party is the coalition. Look at what happened with the Scottish Referendum to look at the potential disruption and lack of business confidence. Today. Tes were released do the countdown. Dissenters start joining the pack or not yet . Pointy are saving a valid that some of the metrics are starting to show through. Theyre very keen to stress the fact this is about where wages 2015 and to go into 2016. Wages could go up. Is where it they are flagging in terms of their concern. The bulk is more concerned with the slowdown we have got at the moment globally and that disinflation forces. The lack of a normal recovery since then. If they are allowing them to stay on hold and let growth go go, sort to speak thank you. Coming up, our next guest says the economy needs a new direction. Join us for an exclusive conversation on brazil. Welcome back to countdown. The dollar is stronger overall this morning on a fiveyear high. Through a breaking sevenyear number. 1998 could be on the way, or 140 if you are of that mind. That would be an extreme view. That Pension Funds in japan around the 115 level. Euro swiss, the highest level in three years. The Swiss National bank will keep euro swiss cap in check at 120. Getting some breaking news from italys biggest insurer. They have announced they are planning to cut an extra 150 2015on euros of costs by and reduce debt as to boost profits and strengthen capital. It will seek reductions of one 2016. N euros by the company is selling nonstrategic assets. Focusing on its main business. Half the way to its main goal. Francine lacqua said down with the chief executive, mario, in an exclusive interview. His tod him how he met complete his threeyear plan in two years. Fundamentally have all the capital measures. It was supposed to be short of capital. We sold assets and reduced debt. Improved the leverage ratio. We restored the stability and solidity of the company. We have been working on improving the profitability. Achieve equityo in excess of 13 . We are this close to it. By the year end, we will be able to report on that and show we have achieved the target. What happens next . Are you going to change or targets . On thepe we can achievement of targets. Once we do that, we will move on and start working on new plans. We are already there. The get about the future. Thinking about the future. We are going to announce new investors here in london. On the 27th of may. We plan to present and unveil the future of the company and what will be the next journey we will engage in. You have changed your dividend policy. Benefit of our early achievement of our capital confer that the beenend it has released. We are not forced to maintain the 40 payout ratio. Year, i amof the gm will approve it, we will go about 40 to rick i know you want to lay out the strategy going forward. You sold off a lot of noncore assets. Anyyou looking for countries or businesses where you want to invest heavily . We are not targeting acquisitions. We are looking at the organic development of our business. There is a lot more to do here. Huge organization. We have not been performing well for a number of years. We have reactivated it and achieved a lot of things. But there is a lot more we can do. Before we get into an acquisition mode, we want to continue achieving the best we can. That is something we have a lot of hope for and will keep working on. We will invest and develop the good businesses that we have. We do not plan to do it through acquisitions. Speakinggreco exclusive to francine quebecois Francine Lacqua. After the boj voted to keep its record stimulus plan as it was, the banker speaking. He sees improvements in japan and in employment. The economy has continued to recover moderately according to him. Japanese inflation likely to reach 2 . That is the target around 2015. That after the bank of japan decided to keep the qe plan as previously announced her. The bank of japan governor got more support than he had previously. Interesting to think whether there is a divide between the boj and government. The boj governor had been talking about how important it was to increase the sales tax to tackle fiscal sustainability. We will see if we get further comments on that. Is a recap ofy where we are on the japanese story. Let us know what you think about what is going on in japan. Following a conversation on twitter. Tell us what you want to hear more about and less about. 6 36 in london. He isxt guest says mario garnero. He will join us exclusively as brazil reacts to elections and allegations of corruption in the oil industry. Welcome back to countdown. Billionaire batista goes on trial. The judge says he is a symbolic figure and to see him in court is an historic moment. Police continue their investigation into the Petroleum Company petrobras. Thecartel allegedly president says the investigation changes forever the relationship the between society, government, and private companies in the country. Those are some of the biggest stories. Guest and. Our next he is the chairman of Garnero Group. Mario garnero. When you read the headlines about what is going on with petrobras, the chair of the hisany, how tarnished corporate brazil as a result of the investigations . There are two important points. The first one is the new gave then passed opportunity to the companies to be under severe restriction. Brazil thee, corrupter was not in jail or charged. I think this is an important point toward combating corruption. The second point is it is a black hole on the Public Companies in brazil. We have to put the lights on all of them. I think this is really something that tarnishes not only brazil all be Public Companies in brazil. You envision further investigations or wider investigations than just the relationships that petrobras had with other businesses . Do you think other companies will look i think there is a suspicion that goes over the day to day operation of petrobras. All the state companies could have been involved. We had a president that was impeached. Half oftions of the dominant part was put in jail. Justitutionally, we are cleaning up the house without changing the structure. Justice is working. There is an empire of law that observed in brazil. You came on just before the election. About your two sons. You had affiliations, so your household is semihappy. Can the leader unite the country . You said the country was divided going into the elections. There must be mixed emotions not just in your household. Can she reunite the country . It is interesting. Could make it. E most important is together what we talked about. How the economic measures will be taken. Are thinking the stability is based on labor. On keeping the jobs. There was inflation that must be controlled. There is some kind of new that arrived from the public company. I think this is the opposition. Strengthe having more than we had before the elections due to the things that are happening. That. S really some of Interest Rates are going up. She made corrections on the budget. We will be having a new way other than lose time. New formulas of development. Most important is brazil could , to bek to take downgraded on the investment. Position with the rate in agencies rating agencies. This would represent a difficult point for the future. With the international community. We spoke to an analyst who said there is a written need to reduce the intervention of the state in the economy. To reduce labor laws. Reduce taxation in the economy. You think to avoid further devaluation of the currency and a downgrade of debt, she might deliver some of these things . We touched on this little bit before. I saw that the economy at that time, as a model, has to be changed. Whoever will be the president , the finance minister, we were talking before the election. I do believe it must be done. I looked at some of the notes. It says during your tenure in industry, you brought in 16 billion. President inger and george w. Bush, you courted them. Who does russo need to court . I will finish on your question. I think the time is good for investment. This is a good time to invest. Assets is toohe high. They are coming to a more normal price internationally. Internally, you need to have confidence. Lacking. E is what was yesterday, i talked to a friend. Brazil has a speech of antibusiness. Chinese are the opposite. They say they are probusiness. We have to be a little bit chinese. You are not just here to talk to us. Buy a security form. Tell us why you ventured into Cyber Security. I would be quoting what the nsa, the chief of technology said yesterday. Ill to come. Tst with some companies, some ceos, you talk about Cyber Security my they tell you, i doubled do a jet budget. The results are the same. I have the safest system in the world. 30,000 accounts so i think the revolution, creating new areas, is still to come. Put legislation just to improve Cyber Security on the private side. Because we think we could deliver good profit. That will be for the future. Always great to talk to you. I love the turnaround on the chinese and the brazilians. Come back and see us next time you are in town. Mario garnero, the Garnero Group ceo. The countdown newspaper segment. If you follow the financial markets, you may be interested in a watch that can monitor shares and currencies. Startupa watchmaker, it displays Financial Data on one of its dials. They say time is money. That is especially true if you double in the stock markets. Fortunes can change in a few clicks. There is now a way traders can keep their eyes on the dial thanks to a london watchmaker. We started decided to make a stock market watch. Something we would do interesting, which is put a stock price on there. Bluetooth technology feeds the watch. Marketsiness where forces change in the blink of an eye, the technology has limitations. Every minute or so, it will reconnect to your phone. You usually have a minute or two delay in the actual price. Technologylied the to other fields. The watch doesnt care what data it is showing. Although this is a stock market watch and kenexa to Financial Data, we also have a sports watch. Sports, so you can see football and so on. With most of us checking on our phone hundreds of times, it could be a discreet alternative. One of the mower more annoying thing in life is dealing with people constantly checking their phone. Not, sticklers for adequate might scale at the need to keep looking at your watch, unless your stock has just skyrocketed. An hour away from the start of the European Equity session. Caroline has graced us with her presence. Im going to grace you with a story from the times. Gov isvernment u allowing people to delve into data. Some 200,000 interviews done on 30,000 topics. Hsbc customer, you are more likely to believe in angels. Owner,are a land rover you are typically male, 4059, from northern scotland. Cat lovers are generally from yorkshire. Forex marmite , marmite is not that far out there. She brings a whole new dimension. I have the french kiss and tell. Tell. Doing a kiss and she is coming here to the u. K. To do a book tour. I didnt know whether to go for that or 3 for 1. It is on the front of the telegraph so it has got to be true. Bob marleys family put his name to a Global Cannabis brand. He has become the face of the First International marijuana brand. They have teamed up with a new yorkbased private equity firm to meet firm. Scotland one, england three. See you later. Are you happy . 45th england and goal. Next hour. , do join us. Of bloomberg exclusive. Cost cutting at the Third Largest insurer in europe. We are getting used to this world now. And the crisis started, we wondered when it would finish. We guessed the crisis could finish somewhere between 20152018. Now we are starting to think it could even be later than that. The bank of japan governor wins support for his stimulus program. Chain reaction. Abandoning a financial forecast. Welcome to countdown. I am manus cranny. It is 7 00 in london. Lets start with the Third Largest insurer, in europe. Set down withcqua the ceo mario greco. We asked him how he managed to complete his threeyear plan in two years. We improve the leverage ratio. We restored the stability, the solidity of the company. She also asked him what worries him the most in what seems an uncertain world. To thise getting used world now. When the crisis started, we wondered when the crisis would finish. We guessed the crisis could betweenomewhere 20152018. Now we are starting to think it could be later than that. Europe needs growth. We all agree on that. It is back to politicians to find ways to restore growth in europe. Europe isll of suffering. Germany included. Because of lack of growth and political initiatives to support growth. That is the issue. We cannot solve it. Foran struggle through it several years. We will find a way to move europe outside this corner where it is today. Do you worry about deflation . Be the ultimate worry. If we are deflationary, we get stuck with no growth. It is. On the other side, i think it is important to remind each other that europe is the biggest Insurance Market in the world. Of, is ittandpoint worth being in europe . Yes, it is worth it. Economyill the largest if we consider europe as a single economy. The largest economy for Insurance Companies in the world. The most relevant and accessible. Also, a very stable one. I hope inflation will not be such a scary thing as it is today in the next years. I hope the Government Intervention will help us moving the european economy. In italiantill see discount because you are an Italian Company . That is possible. I would say more broadly, there is a european discount. We are opening the shareholder business to noneuropeans. Americans. Ell and other nationalities represented in the shareholder business. A european player. 90 of our business is europe. The perceptionpe in europe will change. But we see also in terms of who we are, shareholders and investors are understanding us better. They are developing trust and confidence in our plans and results and they are entering our business. What are your thoughts on russia . Last time we spoke, possibly a year ago, you were saying i may decide to add to russia. Now the world has changed in that region. Russia is a big issue. Deadds another risk to flation of europe. Interview prices and availability depend on supplies from russia. It doesnt help in this scenario to have the situation. We are not exposed to russia. Russia is potentially a big services, Financial Insurance included. But it is not a very open market. With this situation, it is differently not available at all. O, speakingec Francine Lacqua off to read Francine Lacqua. Getting reports firsthalf revenue. They are pleased with the performance, focusing on tight cost control. The uc Parcel Market remains challenging. That is where the 500yearold business has been facing competition from Parcel Companies or amazon deciding to do its own delivery. Amazon is also a customer of royal mail come but they have a there own delivery, too. Or new strategic developments in the industry. Ebay, offering its own click and collect. Things changing and this old business adapting. They say there was no change in the fullyear guidance. It is dependent on them delivering what they call christmas. At they say they are prepared for that. Japans gradual economic recovery is in place. This is according to the boj governor. He is speaking in tokyo after the bank voted to keep its stimulus and support for his Monetary Policy is increasing. All but one member of the eight number board the plan. Compare that last month, when had the backing of only five out of nine. Kicke previous hike helped japan into its first recession in six years. We are joined by brian live from tokyo. Comments from the bank of japan governor in the past hour. What has he been saying . I think he is reaffirming his commitment to expanding the Balance Sheet he is offering, making nice sounds about the outlook, contrary to the Economic Data out earlier this month. All in all, it is a Good Development for abe. With japan slipping into a recession. Taking a risky political gamut and calling a snap election. Before the delay of the sales tax hike, the boj governor seemed to be in favor of its and lumen asian implementation. How to sit how does it there are economists that are concerned about the debt dynamics for the country, which are pretty awful when you stretch it out. Assuming they dont arrest the growth of the debt. Japaneek during which slipped into a recession, being a a stare and an usterian is not a good place to be. Thank you very much. Bloomberg asia managing editor brian, joining us from tokyo. Thank you, brian. Breaking news on i cap. They have had their firsthalf numbers. The first pounds for half, that is down from 40 million last year. They are continuing to cooperate with Government Agencies in europe. This is in regards to a variety of investigations. In the states and the yen level probes. Join us on twitter, let us know what you think. Did you realize we were in sync . Very coordinated. I go with more of a blue theme. Tell us what you think of it. T menacing. Manus singh. He has to sing me frozen song. Talking up coming up, coming up, crowdfunding. Welcome back to countdown. Little bit of breaking news from the governor of the bank of japan. He says core inflation could fall below 1 . This is the big debate, is the bank of japan already spent in terms of their policy for stimulating the economy . At 117. En trading little bit more relieved than he was an hour ago in that he has more support for his additional stimulus into the japanese economy. Eightone career that moves from 54 permit dollar yen, not much reaction. Dollar yen could fall below 1 isthe rise of crowdfunding drawing attention not only from the startup scene but regulators. As a quick way to raise money to read entrepreneurs increasingly using websites like kickstarter to get support for their ideas. It wasy researcher estimated to reach 5. 1 billion in 2013 to read the platform is going across industries, too as real estate and Even Charities employ crowdfunding. We are joined by robin and luke. For a panel on the future of banking. Thank you for joining us. If i can start with you. You are representing alternative investment banks. You are an alternative investment bank. What do you think of crowdfunding . Are you for or against . How does it exist if the traditional finance sector did their job properly . I dont think it is a matter of doing their job properly. I think banks are not in a position where they can have a monopoly on intermediate in between borrowers and lenders. Thanks have advantages and they are principally that they can mismatch the term of their funding. Ultimately, they can go to be central bank to seek funding if they mismatch it. They have disadvantages which are costs. What has happened in the banking got veryis people have fat on the margins that they are able to charge. Competitors. Ght in those competitors are coming from all sorts of different areas. That is exciting. Where the concerns are that this is an unregulated market, and of course unregulated markets have advantages and disadvantages as well. I think its exciting and the right way to go. It is not a question of this intermediate in the beings sintermediate in the banks. I think it is. Crowdfunding is regulated by the authority. Forthey have been regulated some time to read per to lending is in the process of becoming regulated. I believe banks have been taking their eye off the board. They have left a void that alternative finance platforms have filled. We are seeing huge demand for debt financing. Names looking to to raise 110,000,000 dollars. It is not just about small raises. Thing is theng reasons and rationale for businesses doing this. It is not just about raising the finance. It can be about diversifying their bank lending against banks. It is also about engaging customers and bridging the gap. Trying to engage with their customers on a higher level. One of the things you it screams out to me as a product sold to normal people who need more help and guidance in terms of understanding the risk. I think you are being disingenuous to me, if i can be so bold. People can invest on the crowd key platform for as little as 10 pounds. Others invest several hundred thousand pounds. The largest single investment is 3. 8 million through our platform. The largest single private investor invested 800,000 pounds. We attract more traditional business angels and vc money. How can traditional banks take it vantage of this new thinking, this new model finance . I think they have to be more innovative in their thinking. The trouble is they are stale and protected. The intermediation model is not ntly at theicie lower levels of borrowing. It is too expensive for banks to compete in that area. New ways of intermediate in have to develop. Senior management are stale. They are not used to innovation. They live on the fat of the land, protected. We spoke to a member of the Irish Government who was talking about their in missions to create to try and boost the tech elements. This is something that london wants to cling to tightly. How excited are you about the growth of fintech . I think the banks themselves, it has been a lost decade. Tech particularly in london, the u. K. , has stalled out. As a Market Leader globally. Challenging the status quo and introducing new models of finance. We are getting support from the government and we have a lot of good andonfident confident Companies Taking advantage of this opportunity. Final word . Is not a monopoly for london. There are hubs in manchester and bristol. I would echo that. We are based index it are, although we do have a office in london based in exeter, although we do have an office in london. Coming up, how to keep an eye on time and the stock market. Coming up after the break. If you fold the financial interestedu may be in any watch that can monitor shares and currencies. The stock market watch uses Bluetooth Technology to display Financial Data on one of its styles. Tom gibson reports. They say time is money. That is especially true if you double in the stock markets. Fortunes can change in a few ticks. There is now a way traders can keep their eyes firmly on the dial. We decided to make a stock market watch. The technology is available. We display those. We thought we would do something interesting, which is put a stop ice on there as well. On there as well. It shows changes ive price changes for your chosen stock. It will minute or so, reconnect to your phone, check up on the price, and display it. There is usually a minute or two delay on the price. They also applied the technology to other fields. The watch does not care watch which data it is showing. Although this is a stock market watch, we also have a sports watch. So you can see football results. Checking ourof us phone hundreds of times a day, the watch could be a discreet trackingve to portfolio performance. One of the more annoying things in life is dealing with people constantly checking their phones. I need to keep track of something in a meeting, i can see that having value. Sticklers for etiquette might looking ate need of your watch, unless your stock has just skyrocketed. Time now for financial moot news. An investigation into frances biggest bank started earlier this month. Prosecutors say it is too early to determine who is involved. The investigation could be dropped if no evidence is uncovered. Bnp paribas declined to comment. Suspended. Were investigation may not be complete for some time. We will take a short break here on countdown. The u. K. Independence party is ahead in the polls. The are voters saying in town where the by election is taking place. What does that do to the political scene . We will have a report. Welcome back to countdown. The bank of japan has spoken. ¥80 trillion, the vote was 81. The boj governor warns that inflation may fall below 1 . Dollar yen is getting dishes moving. Get ready for 1401 45. 1995 was 140. Bnp paribas says get ready for 130. The dollar is stronger, a fiveyear height brady euro yen also moving. Have a look at the swiss franc. A vote to goof through in terms of how much bankshould the central old. We have a bloomberg survey. We like surveys. They will keep the cap. The cap was set three years ago. Falling and swiss franc rising. They will not let the cap go, not of the market has anything to do with their thinking. That is the view from the most recent bloomberg survey. Highestss tested the level in 26 months. The market likes a test. These are the top headlines. A german minister has been meeting his russian counterpart in a bid to revive the ceasefire in eastern ukraine. He stressed the importance of troops on both sides disengaging from their current positions. If, for example, that the it can beprograms defined on the basis of the Disengagement Program as a disengagement line to where the heavy artillery should be pulled back. Happened inat has the beginning, namely the exchange a bloomberg poll of says the bank of england is unlikely to raise benchmark rates. 92 of economists surveyed say be rate would remain at a record low until after people. The poll. In otballs governor governing body fefa has launched a complaint. Fifa has faced criticism over its handling of the voting. The French Nuclear company areva has been forced to abandon financial targets. Here to hyde is exchange targets facing the company. A lot of this goes back to the exposure to japan. They have it projects off. Precisely. Or months after they slashed the 2014 forecast, they are aandoning what they hoped was pickup in revenue and profitability. This all goes back to the fukushima disaster. The fact that japan started raining in from nuclear energy, as did germany. This became a worldwide phenomenon. Everybody got the factor. There was a slowdown in demand for nuclear, especially in europe and the u. S. Backdrop for the areva. They have also hurt themselves. They have a project in finland. Customer payments have been delayed. In boiled inten terrible disputes with the customer. S thatave investment have soured and a slower ramp up for a project in brazil. Are seeing an abandonment of forecasts. Idsa shares will be on the downward trajectory. They are going to be shaking up management . Them. A difficult time for they have been trying to restructure since 2011, since fukushima. We areef executive said, going to sell assets and rein in costs. They have done that successfully. They are also pairing investments. October, he has had to step down for health reasons. Environment in which they are working is shaky. Not the only French Company facing challenges. Ng this is what is depressi for the french in general. They wanted to be seen as a beacon of excellence for nuclear energy. They have had to come out and say, they are delayed. Plant in normandy will be further delayed to 2017. That means it is five years late, a decade in the making. And more costly than ever envisioned. Doubled, 8. 5 billion euros is the price tag. This is embarrassing. They want to showcase how the french can do this well. They have learned lessons to read because of this main project in normandy, we are able to realize where costs are more manageable and time james time friends more manageable. Areva is falling over for these projects. This is bad for competitors to rid this is a huge project, with huge long lead times. This is where companies and management is coming in. These are huge engineering feats they are taking on. We have to give them a bit of a break. But 10 years . Hitachi are going to be had by this because they are nuclear providers as well. Areva, 80 owned by the Public Sector in france. Their shares have fallen significantly. Not eight three picture not a pretty picture. The last day of campaigning in the by election that could give the u. K. Independence party second member in the parliament. Today no sugar coating can hide it. Britains main Political Parties have fallen out of favor. Tories at the moment, we have them at 23 . Labor at 12 . The customer poll echoes official forecasts. For thehelming win United KingdomIndependence Party, or ukip. It has turned a by election in majore into a political fight in a castle town not unfamiliar with big fights. We should be an independent country. We need to deal with the independent this deficit. The ruling conservatives had banked on the economy to keep voters on board. But the antiimmigration, antieu policies are finding supports with an electorate disillusioned with the establishment. A step closerthem okerhe role of power br in the general election, raising the stakes of an exit from the eu. That is a step many say would be a disaster for britain and the eu. They are hoping the recent love melts way by may, 2015. Bloomberg. Ie, the 13can see all candidates on screen now. Hope you are paying attention. There will be a test. Pulls open tomorrow. The results are expected in the early hours friday. To join the conversation on twitter. How many of those party are you aware of . I wanted to know when the last time you bought sweet and no suites in one of those shops. Tell us that. Remember those . A trip down memory lane on countdown. Coming up, how long can you go without knowing what is in the part . Chart bart chart . Stay with us. Time today for the chart to read how low can the yen go . When abe ago, that is took the reins as prime minister. To the dollar. Today, after a 37 gain in the dollar, it has fallen to 117. That is after the boj expanded monetary stimulus. The has fallen by 7 . How low could it go . Try 140. I did say that. Int is a level last seen 1998. That is how far he says the yen could fall by march. A 20 decline from here. Chief japanese Economist Says economists will on 130 and 140ng as aid does whatever it takes to keep the economy out of recession. All analysts as berrys as those gentlemen . No, they are not. Is the yenforecast will rise to 114 by march and dropped to 119 by the end of 2014. Optionsook at the market, most strategists are yet to catch up with the slide. A point made. Whensts can struggle markets shift to violently. It is mainly the fear of being wrong that prevents them from making bold forecasts despite consistent evidence that markets volatilelittle more than there are monday and forecasts suggest. You wouldnt call the forecast that it could fall to 140 monday in. No relation. Have insightice to in the family. Lets talk about what is happening in equity markets. Some of the impact that central attention tos turn equities. Lets talk to the next guest, the head of global asset management. Thank you for coming. You have been looking back over october, trying to work out what we can take away from the correction that was not really a correction. Would call it a half decent correction. Market had been starved to one for a few years. It is quite get to 10 . In aningful correction market sort of downturn cents, but in the context of what we have seen over the last few years, it was a blip. Does it worry you in terms of liquidity fears . Everybody runs for the door at the same time . It was not the size of the correction. It was the manner in which it occurred. Lowgh spell of ultra volatility that banks have inflicted on us has come to an end. Get to a large number, but it was meaningful. The spell has been broken. It did not last. Conditionedave been by the dip. Should we Institutional Investors cannot do that. They have to look ahead over the next few years. That is the problem. When these market corrections happen, those traders come back and buy the market up. Our problem is looking back over the next two or three years, returns are paltry. Not just equities, bonds too. Under the of decent return that we face over the next few years. The most on target for amount of protection to be ands 1973. Institutions are obviously wary of this. Is that the correct thing . Where or how do you protect yourself . Should you pay for volatility . Everybody is in it. There is nowhere else to go. Where else is investment money to go . Make sense to think about protection where it is cost effective. Volatilityility means it is not too bad. But there is still a big up f ront cost. Longterm strategy, there are a number of ways you can protect your portfolios. The ultimate problem is with you. Over the next few years, you are going to get very low returns. We are talking about low returns in 2015, it applies to bonds and equities. If you have to pick, which sites to pick . Got to hang your hat on equities. The valuation story woody mean by dividend clipping . It looks better than bonds. Think, we are into a time when Interest Rate are beginning to rise. Led by the u. S. , it is true. Globally, Interest Rate have bottomed. Where do they end up settling . Is it below their longterm average . Half of their longterm average . That is the question and markets today. 2 world or 4 world . Tell you it is a 4 world. The bond market says, we disagree. You take your pick between the two. We are in the view that we are in a 4 world. We have to admit that we are in in charted territory. Uncharted territory. We want to be hedged it both ways. Stick art prepared to at out too much in terms of what world it is. Thank you. Staying with us. He will be back after the break. We are going to give you a bit a walk up to st. Pauls. The center of london. The money umbrage, my apologies. Futures indicating a higher opening. Federal reserve 241. Stay with us. Welcome back. Still with us in the studio. Lets get your thoughts on japan buried we have the bank of japan not changing their stance on quantitative easing. Government has changed course. How do you evaluate the change of course from the government . Ofthe qe program buys a bit time. It offers a window to get some of the reforms going. Anwas supposed to be alleviation of the sales tax impact. But the sales tax difficulties are now with us. The issue is the fiscal a pointnts have reached where they need to be decisive in terms of tacking best tackling things. The reforms have to come through. The reforms can keep running, eventually how low can the yen go . Say there is no answer. It depends how hard they press on the accelerator. The issue is, i would be surprised if it gets to 140. I wouldnt work on it being more than that. Into risk averse back. They will buy it it is possible we will get countertrend. All that monetary expansion is again weakening, there is note doubt about that. The question is how much. Do you expect the European Social bank to do sovereign bond buying puts mark buying . We do. They will have no other for course. In thert of buying is cards. Great to have you with us. Oin the move is up next. That will preview the by election in manchester. We will take you through that. Stay tuned. Welcome to on the move. Just moments away from the start of european trading, a busy morning. The political debate, that is the focus for the next hour as we turn our attention to another election, another tory defector and potentially another win for ukip. The people of rochester vote. The bank of japan does nothing. Leaves policy unchanged. But governor corona enjoys more support this time around. The japanese yen continues that journey south. Here in the u k, part two of the policy voting for a rate hike. Voiced hisrney has concerns about headwinds to economic growth. We get minutes from the Central Banks latest meeting. That is what we are watching this morning. One futures market, ftse 100 up. Tax futures in positive territory as well. We may get a higher open. Flowing,his money money flowing into the dollar, we know that. Money is also flowing into u. S. Longterm investment. 164 billion went into europe. Takegan had a note saying, your money into europe. That depends on whether you believe the next step will be delivered in terms of quantitative easing. Is that enough to drive the european map . Equities higher, oil is lower. The bank of