this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. capital punishment. financialfirms to move hundreds of billions of dollars in assets out of the uk ahead of brexit, with $1 trillion already gone since the referendum. plus — poacher turned gamekeeper? president trump nominates arch world bank critic, david malpass, as the lender's next boss. and on the markets, asian shares are muted, with china still on holiday. investors are waiting on developments in the trade war, after president trump offered little new to chew on in his state of the union speech. ourfocus is brexit again.

as you've been hearing, the uk prime minister theresa may is heading to brussels today to try and renegotiate the terms of britain's departure from the eu. regardless of whether the uk leaves with a deal or not, the impact on the financial sector is already being felt. while the number ofjobs being relocated is still comparatively small, huge amounts of capital are being moved. according to consultants ernst & young, banks and otherfinancial firms have shifted at least $1 trillion worth of assets out of the country since the referendum in 2016. they're setting up new offices in the eu so they can continue to serve clients there, and european regulators are demanding substantial assets are moved too. the big beneficiaries are dublin, luxembourg, paris, and most of all, frankfurt. frankfurt has done really well. the lobby group for the german financial capital claims almost $800

billion in further assets will be moved there from london before the end of march. this as banks step up the transfer of their business. it says 30 financial firms have chosen frankfurt for their new eu headquarters. meanwhile, eu leaders say there will be no renegotiation of the brexit deal — making no deal ever more likely. the brexit issue is not a question between the republic of ireland and the united kingdom, it is the european issue and that is why we cannot accept the idea, which is circulated around, that the withdrawal agreement could be reopened. the backstop is part of the withdrawal agreement, we cannot reopen the discussion on the brexit. shanti kelemen is senior portfolio manager at the private bank, coutts. good morning. you are listening to

those statistics that we were rattling out, it sounds like a big number, or $1 trillion worth of asset gone already since the referendum. is your take on what is going on. well, a lot of it has custody of asset and it will be for clients were based in the eu, as i think it isjust clients were based in the eu, as i think it is just about making sure that money can still flow, businesses still hedge currency risk. what has not been moving is lots of jobs, most risk. what has not been moving is lots ofjobs, most of those staying in london, and if you think about the infrastructure that is here for a vice, sales, trading, accountancy, legal, all of that, a lot of that has not moved and i think london continue to be a great financial hub. it is quite interesting because you say that, reuters had a survey of showing this week that just you say that, reuters had a survey of showing this week thatjust under 2000 jobs and move because the brexit and also sables, the real estate agency, have said they have had one of the best years they've ever had for leasing in the city

since they started monitoring economic activity and a lot of their clients are committing the very long—term leases in the city of london, so that is a long—term future they are thinking of. yeah, and the commercial economy has been very strong. you think about the finn tech economy which london houses, would lop of strong start—ups in the —— and lots of strong start—ups. it could, we actually sold some of our holdings and financials recently because we arejust and financials recently because we are just worried about all of the costs. and banks and financial services, they have to hedge their bets for every single scenario, because this is the problem, we do not know what is going to happen in 50 days's time, what that means the brexit and what that then means for things moving around. —— at coutts. no, ithink things moving around. —— at coutts. no, i think when you think about the banking system, it is about utility. you need businesses to be able to

get a ccess you need businesses to be able to get access to the capital, you need people to have access to their money, and i think it isjust about making sure that money will also flow no matter what happens, whatever arrangement we have. that is something the bank of england has been talking about for many months, how they are getting ready and making sure that provision is there no matter what happens. what is your feeling about how things are going? are you optimistic? i think we are still optimistic, the uk economy has been very resilient and i think if some of the uncertainty is resolved, you could be a lot of money flowing back into uk because so much has come out. there is a lot on the sidelines as well, just waiting? yeah, a think that a lot of those people returned to the market, continue to do business in the uk, so we are continue to do business in the uk, so we are optimistic. all right, thank you so much, thank you for coming in. let's turn to the us now, where president trump has formally nominated david malpass,

the top diplomat at the us treasury, to be the next head of the world bank. mr malpass has been responsible for overseeing us involvement in the world bank and imf. but he is a controversial choice, as an outspoken critic of the institutions — as samira hussain reports. david malpass was a senior economic adviser to donald trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, so an early trump supporter but the nomination david malpass has caused some woi’i’y nomination david malpass has caused some worry that he will try to diminish the role of the world bank, and that is because he has set in the past that international for natural institutions are corrupt, inefficient, spend too much money, and are generally rather useless. and that might make him an odd choice to run one of the biggest international financial institutions in the world, but the white house on wednesday really moved to counter that perception, saying that mr malpass is committed to modernising the bank and making sure there is

more accountability by borrowers.- treasury, i'm proud to say that underyour treasury, i'm proud to say that under your administration, mr president, we negotiated a major capital increase and reform package for the world bank, with shareholders and dedicated staff, there is a great opportunity now to implement this construct of reforms that will lead to best growth and greater prosperity. the executive board of the world bank board makes the final decision on the presidency, but traditionally, the united states has a lot of influence on the decision process. united states says it expects to make its decision by april. —— the. softbank‘s shares have been surging by as much as 15%, let's talk to

rico hizon. what is going on? what is softbank doing now? well, unbelievable movement on the tokyo stock exchange when the nikkei 225 is in the red. it has prompted and ceo to announce a share buyback programme, it announced income for the first three quarters of the fiscal year. the softbank group said it would repurchase around 112 billion shares, over the next 11 months. that is about 10.8% of its total outstanding shares, excluding treasury stocks. this is basically exciting any investors, funded by proceeds from the bumper public offering of its domestic telco, the ceo said the buyback, the company's largest ever, the last one was way backin largest ever, the last one was way back in 2016, was driven by what he sees as the undervaluation of its

share price and one investor described the share buyback as enormous and said it is definitely going to propel the stock at least in the coming months. the dubious background about that company, it has major investments such as a uk tech company, uber, flick at, nvidia. a major company. very strategic investments there. rico hizon, good to see you. now let's brief you on some other business stories. uk jobs are attracting less interest from european workers, according to figures from top employment websites. data analysed for bbc news byjobs site indeed show the number of searches for uk jobs from other european countries has fallen since 2015 — with construction and healthcare the hardest hit. the bank of england is meeting today. it's expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged at 0.75%,

but cut back its forecasts for growth in the uk economy. financial markets are now betting there's no more than a 50% chance interest rates will rise at all this year and now — what's trending in the business news today? from the wall streetjournal — ‘this one here is gonna farm belt bankruptcies are soaring. trade disputes add pain to low commodity prices that have been grinding down american farmers for years. from wired: facebook‘s top pr exec is leaving the toughestjob in tech. following more than two years of constant turbulence, the company's vice president of communications, caryn marooney, is leaving the company — the latest in a string of shakeups at facebook‘s communications department over the past year. and quartz discusses: why spotify wants to be like netflix now — the reasons behind the music streaming giant's move into podcasting. that is your business briefing. the energy regulator, 0fgem,

is expected to allow gas and electricity suppliers to increase bills by raising the price cap later this morning. the cap, which came into force at the start of the year, is designed to protect customers on standard variable rates. it's thought the rise will reflect an increase in wholesale costs. simon gompertz reports. 11 million people like jackie from south manchester on the expensive standard variable prices, which are capped. to her it makes no sense to the on gas and electricity costs can be raised. in my mind, if somebody just says to me we are your price, i would think well, that is great, i do not have to about, i do not have

to think about it what it is not, is it? is not true. 0fgem will reset the everything is much, causing worry in stockport nearby about coping with higher bills. we could not even afford it, could be, because of that? but no, i do not think they should put up. is ridiculous, theyjust think they should put up. is ridiculous, they just keep think they should put up. is ridiculous, theyjust keep on on with this. it is crazy, you know... and this change in the supply all the time, we should not have to be doing that. gas and electricity issues, it is a massive issue for us here in stock or... steve from citizens advice except the explanation that world energy prices have gone up explanation that world energy prices have gone up warns explanation that world energy prices have gone up warns about the impact. the choice between food and in heating often then comes back. if you have not a lot of disposable income, you have to make the difficult choice between heating and putting it food on the table. difficult choice between heating and putting it food on the tablem

seems unfair. it looks like they have having to pay more so that the suppliers's profits can be protected. there is a way out, to shop around for a cheaper deal, which is what jackie shop around for a cheaper deal, which is whatjackie has shop around for a cheaper deal, which is what jackie has already resolved to do. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: there's another brexit showdown in brussels, with theresa may preparing to meet the presidents of the european commission and council. a body's been recovered from the wreckage of the plane that went down in the sea between france and britain, carrying footballer emiliano sala and pilot david ibbotson. bryan singer, the director of queen biopic bohemian rhapsody, has his bafta nomination suspended over allegations of sexual abuse. he denies the claims. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the independent, they are leading with all things brexit. they have dedicated their front page

to three striking images that tell the story of mrs may's brexit woes. we will look at that in detail in a moment. politico reports on president trump and the news that he is set to announce that 100% of isis caliphate has been liberated. if you don't know what that means, we will explain it shortly. and on to the guardian, and the warning from the met office that global warming could exceed 1.5 celcius within five years. now, onto the business pages of the daily telegraph, and the story of the fire at 0cado. this is the online delivery service. this, of course, has implications for the technology platform, because its licensed its technology to overseas retailers, including sobeys in canada, ica in sweden and kroger in the us. and, finally, onto the bbc website, and a bbc journalist has won a court case against a cab

driver refusing to take him and his dog in a case of discrimination. he is blind. it is a guide dog that enables him to get around. and alongside that the next batch of emojis, set to be released later this year, that feature an array of accessibility and inclusion—themed symbols. including a guide dog. with me is cornelia meyer, ceo of mrl corporation, a business consultancy. we have a lot to get through. let's start with the front of the independent, donald tusk at the top, eu says