World business report. Reaching for the sky. Will Rupert Murdochs Takeover Plans for the pay tv giant be cleared for lift off, or grounded . Plus ringgit rebellion. They saw off the speculators and the imf, but 20 years on from the Asian Financial crisis, did malaysias risky strategy really pay off . Welcome to World Business report. Im jamie robertson. In a minute we will have more on the markets, and how they are reacting to rumours of higher interest rates. But first we start with a big day for this man, media tycoon rupert murdoch. He may be 86 years old, but his Empire Building Ambition seems to be undiminished. Today he finds out whether the uk government will let him take over pay tv giant sky, or whether to order a full investigation. So what is at stake . Mr murdochs 21st Century Fox already owns 39 of sky. The price tag for full control 15 billion. Sky is one of europes biggest broadcasters, with 22 million customers. The deal has already been cleared by countries across the region, but some claim it would give mr murdoch too much control of media here in the uk. It is not the first time he has tried to take over sky. His company News Corporation abandoned a bid in 2011, following the Phone Hacking Scandal involving its newspapers. This year a new scandal, Sexual Harassment allegations at fox news in the us, has led to calls for the latest deal to be blocked by the uk regulator, ofcom, something our media editor amol rajan asked mr murdoch about when he caught up with him in new york last month. From the bbc, are you worried about ofcom 7 from the bbc, are you worried about ofcom . No. Are you worried about ofcom 7 ofcom . No. Are you worried about ofcom . Do you have any concerns about what ofcom might say about what is happening at fox . None whatsoever . Fox news is getting record ratings, so i am not worried at all. And you dont think ofcom will consider what is happening at fox n ews 7 will consider what is happening at fox news . There is nothing happening at fox news. Nothing, 0k7 Samantha Tomaszczyk Covers Mergers And Acquisitions at dealreporter. Is he going to get it, do you think . What is the feeling about this particular deal7 what is the feeling about this particular deal . I think it is first important to point out that because of the opacity of the process it has been difficult to gauge. It be read both ways, the question of media put plurality. It will be interesting to read the report and you brought up theissue read the report and you brought up the issue of fitness and propriety which has seen a lot of coverage in the headlines about the Sexual Harassment case and the Racial Discrimination cases at fox. Our Analysis Shows that risk may have been slightly overblown by the Mainstream Press that will be interesting see how ofcom deals with that. Are they, kabul, the Sexual Harassment allegations in the United States and here in 2011, the Phone Hacking Scandal, and the way in which the business is run, that it was run unethically in terms of Hacking Phones in order to be able to get stories, effectively. Is Sexual Harassment the same . Is it something which you can assess fitness to run a company on . No, it is not the same. I think firstly, as you point out, geographically there are differences, issues with fox, not with sky. And the Phone Hacking of Millie Dowler was so poisonous to the transaction at the time and that has faded with time. From a deal point of view, why does he want to do this . Why does he want to get sky7 do this . Why does he want to get sky . There are several reasons, both personal and business. He has tried to do the deal before, as we know, and it is now possibly more important for him because the media landscape is changing and there needs to be a combination of the reve nu es needs to be a combination of the revenues from the Entertainment Business and also the news business. Does it work into social media and other things like that, and the new media, is it integral to that . Other things like that, and the new media, is it integral to that7m could be a reflection, because sky could be a reflection, because sky could do better with social media, getting its stories promoted on that and working really online on its offering. You mentioned also that it might be more personal than business driven. How much is personal, do you think7 driven. How much is personal, do you think . Not more personal because he isa think . Not more personal because he is a very smart man so it will be done for business reasons of role. But because he has tried to do it before, it is a long term ambition andi before, it is a long term ambition and i think this time it will be very difficult to walk away. Thank you very much indeed. As we have been reporting all this week, it has been 20 years since the financial crisis that swept through east asia and wreaked havoc on economies around the globe. Today we are in malaysia, which took a massive gamble and brought in Capital Controls, effectively controlling how much money went in and out of the country, rejecting help from the imf, and alienating the International Financial community. In the short term, this helped lessen the economic damage, but what about the long term . Christine hah reports. A constant buzz of activity. This Company Makes cranes and lifting equipment for industrial sites across asia. Last year they opened the largest Manufacturing Facility in southeast asia. Asign of a sign of confidence in future growth. 20 years ago its business ranked almost 70 in a matter of months. This man was starting out in the Family Business in malaysia which included the company. We were seeing first customers come back and saying we probably cant take delivery, or we will take delivery but we cannot pay the final bill. In that year, 97, the damage when we looked at our books, will always be in our memories as the worst ever. But things looked very different at street level. This man has run the store for 46 years and says he did not feel the effects of the Asian Financial crisis. Translation Business Today is not as good as it was in 1997. Under mahathir, things were better. Then the Prime Minister, mahathir mohamad, refused a bailout, and in September 1998 implemented Capital Controls stopping Offshore Trade and taking it to the dollar. It was a very frightening thing, to go against the whole world, all of the great opinions of the great economies and all that, it is not something that you do everyday. But i found that there is no other way. So it is a big risk, i know, but i had to take that risk. As a result of our currency control, we recovered very quickly. Now, if you ask around here, most people will tell you that they didnt feel the effects of the Asian Financial crisis that much. But 20 years on there are some who say that malaysia missed a golden opportunity for reform which would have put it in a better position today. This is gdp growth. This economist tells me Capital Controls sheltered malaysia from the worst of the imfs austerity measures. But it let the government continue with an Economic Policy favouring the indigenous malay population and allowed bail outs of ailing state owned companies and banks. All of this hurt malaysia in the long run. We did have a head start but the economy was growing much faster than them, so after what happened to malaysia. A question as relevant today as it was two decades ago. In other news the biggest us banks have all passed the second, tougher part of an annual stress test. The approval by the Federal Reserve could give momentum to white house plans to loosen financial rules. The fed has signed off on the firms plans to distribute money to shareholders rather than keep it as a buffer against another meltdown. Capital one, though, was ordered to resubmit its financial plans by year end. Bank stocks jumped on the news. Indias cabinet has approved plans to privatise air india. The airline, which has debts of 8 billion, has been struggling amid growing competition from low cost rivals. Privatisation plans have been abandoned before, however, and unions have threatened wide ranging protests if ministers push ahead this time. A quick look at the markets and see what they have been doing. The big move, really, downward moves on all the european markets yesterday but the european markets yesterday but the big move was in currencies. We saw a weaker dollar but a stronger euro and slightly stronger pound as well is that dollar weakening. Dont forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. Im bizrobertson. We will be seeing you in a short while to look at the newspapers. A retired court of appealjudge, sir martin moore bick, is today expected to be appointed to lead the Public Inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster. The news comes as police say at least 80 people are believed to have died in the fire, but they dont expect to confirm the exact number for at least another six months. Simonjones reports. The government says it is determined to get to the truth of what happened at Grenfell Tower, and this is the man set to be given that task, a retired court of appealjudge, sir martin moore bick. He specialised in commercial law, in a career spanning almost 50 years, with the clamour for answers, he will be expected to produce his initialfindings quickly. The police say they may not be able to confirm how many people died until the end of the year at the earliest. They estimate so far that the death toll stands at 80, but stressed that is not the final picture. Some victims may never be identified. As the investigation continues, the National Housing federation is calling on the government to stop its testing of cladding, and instead focus on removing it, to make people safe. Having had 120 different test from different samples, from different buildings, in different parts of the country, i think we can now say that, according to the test that the government is carrying out, this cladding is not fit for purpose. We dont need to test any more of it. Today, another victim of the fire will be laid to rest. His family say they are devastated, and will miss him terribly. The sad reality is there will be many funerals to follow. Coming up at 6 00am on breakfast, Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt will have all the days news, business and sport. They will also have more on a new warning that our energy bills and Carbon Emissions will soar unless ministers devise new power saving policies after brexit. You are watching bbc news. The latest Headlines Police in australia have charged the man in charge of vatican finances, cardinal pell, with multiple of sexually abusing children. Cardinal pell is the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in australia, third in the hierarchy of the church worldwide. He strongly denies the allegations. The chinese president has arrived in hong kong for celebrations to mark the 20th Anniversary this weekend of the 20th Anniversary this weekend of the territorys return to china from british rule. The three day visit comes amid growing fears in hong kong that beijing is threatening its autonomy and its freedoms. The us is introducing tough new Security Measures for inbound flights, what has stopped short of expanding the ban on laptops in hand luggage. The new measures described as both seen and unseen include enhanced screening of passengers and electronic devices. And the british Prime Minister is facing another key test in parliament on thursday, in effect a vote of confidence on her governments entire legislative programme. The opposition will try to amend the queen s speech, as it is called, what it is expected to pass with the support of small Northern Irish party the dup. Now it is time for our newspaper review. The South China Morning Post has the twentieth anniversary of hong kongs handover from britain to china. It looks at how security is tight because of the threat of protests. 11,000 Police Officers will be protecting president xi and the first lady during their three day visit. Accept demands or its goodbye qatar. A stark message from the United Arab Emirates ambassador to moscow. In the gulf news, the ambassador insists doha must comply with a 13 point demand list, otherwise itll face expulsion from the gcc, the gulf cooperation council. Many of the british papers leading with this story the six people facing criminal charges for the hillsborough disaster. The independent paying tribute to the 96 liverpool fans who died from the Football Ground crush in 1989. The Financial Times reports on two days of heavy market trading, after so called confusion apparently caused by two of europes
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