this is business briefing. i'm david eades. the paradise papers reveal tech giant apple has a pile of cash worth tens of billions of dollars injersey, where it pays no tax. the us president visits south korea as he continues his tour of asia. yesterday, he talked tough on trade, but can we expect more of the same today? and on the markets: the price of oil still holding above $61; per barrel. it has dropped a tiny bit, but still very much on the up after the so—called crackdown in saudi arabia by king salman. we also have the australian all ordinaries. there are new revelations from millions of leaked documents known as the paradise papers. the technology giant apple has been

managing most of its untaxed cash reserves offshore, on the channel island ofjersey. it moved the money tojersey after a tax loophole in ireland was closed. although the company has done nothing illegal, its tax arrangements have been criticised by eu and us officials. our business editor simonjack reports. a rapturous reception for the latest iphone. it's the most popular and profitable consumer product of all time. it's generated hundreds of billions in profits for apple since it was introduced ten years ago. what these papers show is just how determined apple has been to keep the tax bill on those profits as low as possible. and how keen some governments, lawyers, and advisers have been to help them do it. for many years, apple sent profits made outside the americas to ireland, where an elaborate corporate structure meant it paid nearly no tax on the billions it was making. taxes that would have been due

to the united states, where politicians started applying pressure to a defiant apple ceo tim cook. we pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar. we not only comply with the laws but we comply with the spirit of the laws. we don't depend on depend on tax gimmicks. so, no more fiendishly complicated tax arrangements, right? wrong. documents obtained from the law firm appleby, based in bermuda, show that when ireland shot that scheme down, the company went shopping for a new way to keep their tax bills low. a questionnaire was sent to appleby‘s offices in seven tax havens, all british, including questions that made their intention clear. "can you confirm that an irish company," meaning apple subsidiary, "can conduct management activities without being subject to taxation in yourjurisdiction?" after this offshore beauty parade, apple plumped forjersey,

and company accounts published since show there's been no discernible increase in the rate of tax paid worldwide. now, let's be clear, apple has done nothing illegal but hundreds of billions of dollars remain tangled in a web of low—tax jurisdictions, seemingly beyond the reach of any government. the tax equivalent of outer space. and, as these documents show, this is a system that has continually eluded international attempts to reform it. the boss of the international organisation trying to fix this problem at that it's a work in progress. changing the rules that make it legal means that very of these companies today pay very little or no tax at all. this is what it's about. this is what is happening and this is what we're working on. apple actually pays a lot of tax, more than any other company in the world, but not as much as many think it should.

it's also not alone. other multinationals use similar structures and us companies alone are estimated to have over $2 trillion stashed offshore. the paradise papers showed the lengths to which they and their advisers are prepared to go to keep their tax bills low. simon jack, bbc news. with me is our economics correspondent andrew walker. interesting stuff. in terms of these practices, is it standard? the basic idea is to minimise the tax bill and it is common indeed. this specific arrangement in ireland, whereby its companies were not resident anywhere for tax purposes doesn't seem so prevalent. having a legal presence ina prevalent. having a legal presence in a place where corporate tax rates are in a place where corporate tax rates a re low in a place where corporate tax rates are low or zero is not unusual at all. and there have been some estimates of how much tax is lost as a result the government and the

oecd, we saw their boss in simon's report, they have published figures in the range of 4% to 10% of total corporate tax revenue, which comes toa corporate tax revenue, which comes to a global annualfigure in corporate tax revenue, which comes to a global annual figure in the wide range, hard to pin down, of $100 billion to $200 billion a year, which is important for companies dependent on that revenue because it is hard to collect income taxes or value—added taxes and that kind of thing. there is an international effort to do something on this. thing. there is an international effort to do something on thism it going to work? this is co—ordinated by the oecd and he tries to address issues like the misalignment of tax policies which allow profits to slip through the holes so they are not taxed anywhere. and to try to ensure that where profits are declared there is a relationship to where the activity ta kes a relationship to where the activity takes place. what it won't tackle is diverges in corporate tax rates. it

is zero in some places and even in the main countries there is a wide range of 12% in ireland, if they pay the tax, and 35% in the us with state taxes on top of that. thank you very much indeed. talking about the us : the us president has arrived in south korea as he continues his tour of asia. yesterday, he was injapan where he held a joint press conference with prime minister shinzo abe. although the situation in north korea remains top of the agenda, president trump was quick to criticise the state of trade ties between the us and japan. rico hizonjoins us from our asia business bureau in singapore. he is no role, mr trump, what you expect in seoul? trade, trade, trade, of course, apart from north korea, it will be at the forefront of mr trump's visit to seoul. he called the career korea— us trade

deal horrible and we will see the tones it down when he with moon jae—in later today. he says he wants to achieve fair, free and reciprocal trading relationships — we will see if it happens with south korea. the free trade agreement has been in place for five years now but that is in jeopardy. south korea place for five years now but that is injeopardy. south korea is america's sixth largest trading partner, $140 billion in goods and services exchanged in 2016 but since the deal came into effect, david, the deal came into effect, david, the us deficit with south korea doubled to around $28 billion with korean auto imports to the us making up korean auto imports to the us making up nearly 90% of that deficit. the us auto industry has been among the biggest losers so far from this arrangement but one winner has been us beef — korea has been importing

$1 billion in products since last year, so hopefully they will come to an agreement regarding this trade deal going forward. we will wait to see. tough words with a smile, though, as he is visiting the country. thank you very much indeed. the computer chip industry could be in line for a big shake—up. us chip—maker broadcom has unveiled a $130 billion takeover bid for qualcomm. the tie—up would create a company responsible for supplying components used in more than a billion smartphones every year. samira hussain reports. broadcom and qualcomm are two of the world's biggest chip makers. on broadcom and oualcomm are two of the world's biggest chip makers. on the one hand broadcom provides tips for android phones and the other qualcomm components are found in most new iphones. now the oualcomm has been the dominant player in the chipmaking business. but in the last decade it has actually fallen on some hard times, falling share price, legal battles with its biggest client apple and an

anti—trust investigation in europe. and while oualcomm was dealing with those issues, broadcom has been steadily growing and is now a dominant player in the chip business. so the question is will the deal go through? true that qualcomm's issues make the company right for the picking but many a nalysts right for the picking but many analysts believe this particular offer by broadcom will ultimately be rejected because it undervalues qualcomm. now let's brief you some other business stories. and, now, what's trending in the business news this morning. business insider has a story about one of the most exclusive apartment blocks in san francisco. the article says that residents are complaining that their multi—million dollar homes are now "nearly worthless" owing to the fact that the tower has sunk 17 inches since it was completed in 2008. following news of the potential tie—up between broadcomm and qualcomm, cnbc has compiled a list of the biggest tech acquisitions in history. dell's $65 billion purchase of emc tops the list, with nortel‘s internal buyout

following close behind. and fortune magazine is looking at a research note from goldman sacks, which predicts that the price of bitcoin could head towards $8,000. the cryptocurrency has surged more than sevenfold this year. and, don't forget, let us know what you are spotting online. use the hashtag bbc—the—briefing. that's it for business briefing this hour. but before we go, here are the markets. we were referring to asia up, the all ordinaries we were referring to asia up, the allordinaries up, and we were referring to asia up, the all ordinaries up, and let's focus on brent crude, that says down, though the message is up, very much, with a sharp jump events though the message is up, very much, with a sharpjump events in saudi arabia. that's business briefing. the foreign secretary borisjohnson

is expected to call his iranian counterpart this morning, after being accused of making a mistake that could see a british woman spending five more years in an iranian prison. he's facing calls to retract his claim to a parliamentary committee last week that nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was training journalists in iran when she was arrested last year, something her employer and herfamily have denied. keith doyle reports. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was arrested with her baby at tehran airport last year. she was charged with trying to overthrow the government and sentenced to five yea rs government and sentenced to five years injail. she has worked with thomson reuters foundation and the bbc but insisted this trip was for her daughter to meet her grandparents and denies all allegations against her. diplomacy has not helped secure her release and is comment by the foreign

secretary last week has set her case back according to her family. she was simply teaching people journalism as i understand it. in the last few days she was brought back to court and told mrjohnson‘s, and shed new light on her case and prove she was not on holiday. it is feared iran may now increase the sentence. he needs to make a clear statement that, you know, she wasn't working training journalists. she was there on holiday and she was innocent of the association. and we have made it very clear for a innocent of the association. and we have made it very clearfor a long time she is not being held because of anything she has done. she is just not. the foreign office says borisjohnson will be in touch with the iranian foreign minister to make sure that his comments are not misrepresented. coming up at 6am on breakfast: louise minchin and dam walker will have all the day's news, business and sport. they'll also have more on calls to cut the controversial six—week wait for universal credit, as demand for foodbanks soars across the uk.

this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the latest revelations from the paradise papers. the formula one champion, lewis hamilton, avoided vat on a luxuryjet he'd bought, by registering it in the isle of man. president trump has arrived in south korean capital seoul on the second leg of his marathon 11—day tour of asia. he's called south korea's president moonjae—in a fine gentleman, saying they would work out a way to deal with the nuclear threat from north korea. the us air force says it may have failed to alert federal authorities about the violent past of the man accused of killing 26 people in a church in texas. devin kelley was discharged from the air force in 2012 for assaulting his wife and step son, and legally should not have been able to own a gun. the price of oil has surged past $64 per barrel,

following a crackdown on corruption in saudi arabia. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the south china morning post and us president donald trump, who says the us will not stand by if north korea menaces america or its allies. mr trump's asia tour continues, with the president arriving in south korea today. the telegraph online carries comments from us commerce secretary, wilbur ross, who warned the uk not to let the european union dictate what shape brexit will take if britain hopes to get a speedy us trade deal. meanwhile, the guardian focusses on another warning from wilbur ross, who said any post—brexit deal will hinge on the uk scrapping rules set by brussels, including regulations governing the imports of chlorinated chicken. the arab news looks forward to wednesday, and the opening

of the louvre in abu dhabi. more than a decade in the making, it will be the first foreign branch of the parisian landmark museum, and will house a permanent collection of more than 600 artworks from across the world. and finally, in the daily telegraph print edition, parents in the uk have been told to get a grip and stop keeping their children off school simply because they have a cold or a cough. east sussex council say the new campaign comes as unauthorised absences continue to spiral. so let's begin. with me isjustin urquhart—stewart, who is director at seven investment management.