the pound is falling sharply in asian trade ahead of the big brexit speech by theresa may. the billion dollar fine speech by theresa may. the billion dollarfine and speech by theresa may. the billion dollar fine and admission of guilt — is this the end of the takata nightmare? hello and welcome to asia business report. the british pound is under pressure, falling on speculation the uk is moving closer to exiting the single market of the eu. trading just below a dollar 20. the first time it has fallen that level since october. i think it is a co nflu e nce level since october. i think it is a confluence of not just level since october. i think it is a confluence of notjust expectation about the speech, and it seems some of the key details have been leaked over the weekend, but it segues nicely to philip hammond's comments that if the uk needed to recalibrate its economy, it would. taken together has meant traders in asia have taken at the signal we are in for a hard brexit and that is what theresa may will signal. we know that the pound has really been the one asset subject to all kinds of volatility whenever there is talk of a hard brexit — will there be any stability for the currency?” a hard brexit — will there be any stability for the currency? i think there is a self curing element to there is a self curing element to the sterling weakness. before brexit, we even got up to $1.50. now we are down around a dollar 20, a big list to the uk economy. traders will be focusing on the october line. we could see some heavy selling but if that level can hold, people can recognise that the uk economy was in good shape over the last six months of 2016 relative to expectation and sterling weakness continues to give expert, british industry and services, a lift as we go forward. it is a self curing element that traders are still wary. ta ka ta element that traders are still wary. ta kata shares element that traders are still wary. takata shares are slumping after announcing a deal with the us government which will pay $1 billion and plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing due to those bags. we saw the shares rising over 60% on friday, they are now slumping by as much as 10%. —— 16% on friday. friday, they are now slumping by as much as 10%. "16% on friday. it shows you the difference in sentiment in tokyo as compared to the us will is not on friday, the shares trade at up seeing %. a big drop in tokyo. this is a reflection of the fact that people think the company is not out of the woods as far as its troubles are concerned. it is facing a billion—dollar fine— $25 million to the us government, 100 and $25 million compensation to the victims of the faulty airbags. and also a fine to the makers. it has to come within the next 30 days — $150 million. we do not know how bad its financial situation is that it must be presumed it is not good because it has a ready set in need is to find a new finance to help it through this crisis. what happens next to this company? will they have to file for bankruptcy? they need to get new financing and they said after this deal with the us government, they are hoping to draw a line under this problem and to move on to find new financing for the company but to put the problems in perspective, 12.5 million bags have been replaced. up to a0 million have been replaced. up to a0 million have to be replaced and 70 million worldwide full of that is a huge bill for the company. it seems to suggest there will be further problems to follow fault takata. the company shares and down a% at the moment. prosecutors in south korea have delayed the decision whether to arrest the air to samsung until monday. he has been investigated over a scandal linked with a park geun—hye. china's president, xi jinping will attend is a summit in switzerland. we explain the significance of his attendance. he really will be the star of the show. it isa really will be the star of the show. it is a time when not many world leaders are coming. a weakening chinese economy and a weakening chinese economy and a weakening chinese currency. the president will be under great pains to tell the world that they should have confidence in china's economy and that they will play an important and responsible role on the world stage. this is how the chinese currency has fared. there is a battle between market forces and what the chinese central bank has been trying to do. the chinese currency has really weekend against the us dollar because market forces are trying to push the currency lower. at the same time, the people's bank is trying to strengthen the currency because a wea k strengthen the currency because a weak currency, though good for experts, is bad for the confidence of the economy and we have seen millions, if not billions of dollars poured out because of concerned citizens. one of the biggest themes will be growing inequality which may be growing even further. 0xfam claims a be growing even further. 0xfam claimsa group be growing even further. 0xfam claims a group of men they can fit into one golf buggy on the same wealth as half the world. the top eight billionaires have as much wealth as 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world. india's first international stock exchanges have started trading. it will allow foreign investors to trade on products listed in one is expanding bond markets. mestalla bonds are hoped to be traded. first off, but are they and how will they help? there were some bonds and then from china. we had a club and then came along the indian version — marsala, named after the word for spice in india. what are they? bonds are a form of debt, essentially the investor serves as the bank. a company, a government or a city some money and they promised to pay you back in full with regular interest payments. the problem for indian banks is that they could only raise money and we pay in foreign currencies like the dollar but that is a risky because currencies fluctuate. entering mestalla bonds — the investor takes on the currency risk by trading in rupees. well overseas investors join the party? while india's national income is rising and the economy is expected to grow rapidly, mestalla bonds are the high your returns for investors compare to the us and europe where interest rates are still low and it works out well in there as well. it means money to spend on things india really needs, like roads. infrastructure, they plan to spend more than $1.5 trillion. long—term investment could be the potential depreciation of rupees which could hurt the returns. the indian companies, too much reliance on debt is risky. sometimes too much spice is not very good. let's ta ke too much spice is not very good. let's take a look at the markets. in asia we are seeing declines stop women talking about the losses in the shares of takata, the airbag manufacturer. sentiment is also impacted by the fall in the british pound ahead of the crucial speech by the prime minister of the uk. thank you for watching. i'm babita sharma. the top stories this hour: smart trade, not free trade: donald trump uses a newspaper interview to set out his foreign policy priorities, including tackling the us' trade deficit with china. cancer operations are being cancelled because of pressures on the nhs. he got the news by e—mail and at one day's notice. andrew's operation for prostate cancer had been cancelled owing to a lack of beds at his local hospital. he is a victim of the winter pressures gripping the nhs, with even cancer procedures postponed because of the big increase in demand for hospital care. the person suffering with the cancer can cope with it better than the loved ones around them. my partner, she was really just devastated. we didn't know what to do. it affects everybody, cancer in the family. it's not just me. routine operations are cancelled every winter if there is pressure on beds. but cancer treatment always continues, with very few exceptions. but since the new year, surgeons say that has changed, with a lot more cancer operations having to be put off. the current level of cancellations, if it's not unprecedented, it's certainly pretty close to being as bad as it's ever been. we are hearing from a number of trusts up and down the country, perhaps dozens of trusts, that it's not one or two cases being cancelled but several cases each day. hospitals are trying to avoid postponing cancer operations for longer than a few weeks. but there have been warnings that delays, however long, can be bad news for patients. we know that speedy treatment helps people's recovery and the survival rates. so we are really, really concerned this is happening, not only for the individual from a mental—health and well—being perspective, but more importantly, the impact it could have on survival rates. a department of health spokesperson said, longer delays discharging medically fit patients back to the community, often because of problems with social care, have really added to the pressures on hospitals this winter. that means fewer beds for emergency admissions, never mind patients who are expecting to come in for surgery. the latest revelations about cancer treatment postponements are further evidence of the strain across the service. the state of the nhs is dominating political debate, with winter far from over. hugh pym, bbc news. time now for all the sports news in sport today. hello, i'm chris mitchell. you're live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on sport today: pep guardiola in a sticky situation as everton beat manchester city's a—0. sevilla end real madrid's record breaking run. they're beaten for the first time in a1 games. rory mcilroy can't handle the storm as the englishman winds this first european tour title in ten years. —— wins. the big game was liverpool and manchester united, but the big surprise was everton and manchester city. everton beat city a—0, pep guardiola's heaviest ever defeat in a league competition as a manager. ronald koeman's everton will be pleased as ademola lookman scored just minutes after coming on for his everton debut. romelu lukaku and kevin mirallas got the first two goals either side of half time, with another teenager, tom davies, getting the third on just his second league start.