♪ >> gridlock over greece. the greek delegation heads back to brussels for more talks on its debt. >> armed police on the streets of copenhagen, stepping up security after the terror attacks left two people dead. we are live from the danish capital. >> japan escaped recession but growth remains modest. the world's third-largest economy expanded less than expected. >> and a report that online hackers stole as much as one billion dollars from banks worldwide in an unprecedented cyber robbery.

>> hello. welcome to "countdown." i am mark barton. >> and i am anna ed3wards. >> and i and manus cranny. a key transport hub, the second day of the cease-fire, and we will bring you the latest. >> just about 6:00 in london, and let's talk about greece. euro finance ministers reconvene in brussels, aimed at breaking the gridlock between greece and its creditors. the greek minister said he was confident of a favorable outcome for greece, signs of a willingness to compromise sending greek stocks and bonds higher on friday. and in athens yesterday, an estimated 20,000 people gathered outside the parliament in a show of support for the government.

hans nichols has been monitoring developments over the weekend. good morning to you. what is the greek strategy going into this? they still want a raging loan, and don't they? >> they do. they are likely to plead for more time, not necessarily more money. i hesitate to report i am phil in berlin. i will be heading to brussels in a few hours. the market expectation on that meeting is very much that there will be a compromise. the danger is if you do not get a compromise, if you do not get a deal, there could be some market reaction, but as you said, the prime minister is pretty confident of a deal. here is what he said over the weekend. he said we are looking at to the cult negotiations. nonetheless, i am full of confidence. you can look at that crowd outside of athens, 20,000 people, and you can say this is going to hold the government's feed to the fire or provide more leeway. there is more confidence, and

there was a poll at 61% of greeks supporting the government approach to writing down the debt or changing the negotiations, the long-term terms of that debt. that may give them some leeway. over the weekend, the technical advisors talked about not just areas of where they agree or disagree. this was about getting a clean set of data, a clean set of books for negotiations. when you take a look at that pile of greek debt, it bears looking at who holds what. they have about 100 41 billion. another 52 billion in bilateral loans. that could be a tricky thing to negotiate. then more is owned by the db. the meeting starts at 2:00 p.m. in brussels, and we will see how it turned out. >> gauging whether the german side of this conflict, if you can call it that, is prepared to give any ground.

>> well, it looks like they may want to shift some of their focus on tax collection. they are obviously talking on the ground. there are technical meetings going on and sort of 4.5 percent of their earlier demand, and that is the budget surplus, so that is a key area where germany could prime down a little bit. and then there is the issue of greece saying in the program. that meeting does start at 2:00 p.m. and that gives a lot of time before it gets dark and gets late. i am going to be standing outside and taking pictures of the motorcade, of the cars lining up. that is going to be our indicator. if we see headlights before 10:00 p.m., that could be a positive inclination. don't trade on that, anna. i know you don't trade anyway but we will be looking for a tell tale signs out of that meeting in brussels. >> not if you tell me not to.

hans nichols joining us from berlin. >> for more, let's go to john dawson in hong kong. he has the numbers that break down the data for us. the headline, i suppose we should be grateful that they are out of recession but i have now got language prints in japanese all over my bloomberg. >> actually, the number was not as good as forecast. however, it is a very, very big plus. fourth quarter was positive. and stocks were at a high, and that is a positive, a good one. there was the first quarter -- fourth-quarter forecasts, and it came in up, so that was a significant miss, but it really

is about a theme about positives. markets taking that forward. also, the growth is modest. these are the three things. out of recession. modest growth. that is a strong item. >> indeed. let's talk about abe, because we have got the bank of japan. how are they going to react to these? the yen is rising. traders are the least bearish since the middle of last year so it is a debate about dodging more quantitative easing or not. the market seems to be a bit wary. >> there were his words and, in fact, it is counterproductive was the word used. too much easing will be negating growth as opposed to helping it.

these figures, of force, negates the reason for having it. for abe it means a sales tax rise out of the way for now. that is positive. he is back out of recession. that is his political spin. one quarter for his one quarter and two or three quarters of growth, great. you have got the answer in the bag. >> you are quite right. on hong kong in the data. >> danish police killed the gunman suspected in saturday's attack that left two dead and five police wounded. the shootings are being investigated as a terrorist attack. they say it could've been inspired by events in paris and the islamic state. the danish prime minister said the attacks were not reflective of a western battle with islam but rather against ideologies.

>> we are not in a fight between islam and the west. this is not a battle between muslims and non-muslims. it is a battle between ideas based on freedom of the individual and a dark ideology. >> let's get straight to copenhagen, where security is at an all-time high. our bloomberg reporter is on the ground. what is the latest, and what do we know about the shooter? >> well, on the shooter, police have been rather restrained in what they have told us. we know he was 22 years old, from denmark, known to police. he had been arrested and involved in a stabbing and freed on parole. they have further identified him. there are examples of him having boasted he had carried out this attack at the synagogue, and that is what we know at the moment. >> tasneem, copenhagen is a city

where mothers are used to leaving their babies in prams outside cafés. copenhagen is known as being liberal, one of those most liberal in the world. how has this changed copenhagen and denmark as a whole? >> well that remains to be seen. i was shocked to see police parked everywhere on the streets, i have never seen that before since i have lived here, and as you say, it is a society that is unusually -- between the people who hold power and regular citizens. with copenhagen, they need to be prepared for much heavier, much more visible police presence on the streets.

>> thank you for joining us. we will speak to you later. on the ground in copenhagen today. and you can find more on that story at bloomberg.com for the latest on that story, danish police kill shooting suspect after copenhagen manhunt. right. the top stories on bloomberg this hour. >> the ukraine cease-fire is at risk of unraveling. the kiev government and pro-russian militants are both accusing each other of several cease-fire violations at that town, which connect the cities of lugansk and donetsk. >> policymakers say week u.k. inflation will be temporary, indicating that the chance of more stimulus remains low. the governor for monetary policy committee told sky news that negative interest rates were possible but not likely. another was quoted in the observer newspaper that inc.

rates will rise earlier than market participants currently expect. >> the chief executive of hsbc stuart gulliver has apologized about how the bank's swiss unit helps customers even a taxes. in several newspapers, gulliver said the revelations had been quote, a painful experience. he said since 2008, the hsbc swiss private bank has been completely overhauled. >> and a chief executive could be planning as many as 10,000 job cuts at a u.k. retailer, and up to 6000 of those jobs could go from their head office. over 40 store closures have also been announced. >> opposition leader edward miller band will set out a plan to boost productivity. he is expected to signal a move away from a tax and spend model

for the labour party at a speech at the jaguar land rover plant in one area. he is trying to overcome objections that his party is antibusiness. >> one politician is having surgery after a diagnosis of prostate cancer. he will be on medical leave for a week. he is expected to make a full recovery. in a twitter post, the 63-year-old lee said he was all prepared for the surgery. >> and a quick reminder that it is presidents' day in the united states, marking george washington's birthday ann, of course, the market will be closed. and markets across asia right now -- >> i have got my engine revved up. >> still in japanese. japanese adding to my irish fluency and my spattering of french.

>> there you go. coming up, greece's fate left in the hands of european creditors. when it could mean for the future of the eurozone with simon french after two minutes time. stay tuned. ♪

>> agrees has sort of a creative solution. i am not sure it will be implemented. i think it is very important that some sort of solution be proposed. it read end up defaulting, it will be potentially dangerous for the eurozone as a whole, and i think they would see that, as well. >> that was a nobel prize winning economist speaking with bloomberg about the danger of a greek debt to von. more on the fate of greece he are joined with a senior u.k. economist. welcome to the early side. thank you very much for coming in. so they are all gathering again in brussels. i was isolated last week in the swiss outs, but today is going to be a day in terms of doing a deal to keep greece in the eurozone? >> you will probably get something today that will be for the markets because there are just too many questions out

there. there are too many people working on this in the eurozone. i think robert is right in the package you just had. there will be a deal of some sort. they will reduce heymans, make them contingent potentially on growth and on the primary surplus in greece and still keep that redline for the german shepherd no debt write-downs and some solution will be found whether it is today or in two weeks. history suggests they will try to put it right to the deadline. this is very much brinkmanship. we have got february. kicking it down the road inconceivable. >> you do not rule out greece leaving the eurozone? >> no. i think it is almost certain they will leave at some point. the question will be what is going to be that trigger point, and my own view is when we start moving beyond a conversation about the debt deal and having a conversation on the kind of

spending plans when they start to get implemented, will the germans say no, and if they do -- >> it is a suggestion that greece can leave, and that has been a rubicon for many at the center to contemplate, and the door could revolve. >> but they cannot survive in the current structure of the eurozone. he cannot survive without greek -- great structural reform to make greece look like germany, or there is this goal change. that is not going to happen either. between the german politicians and the german electorate and the greek politicians and the greek electorate. they are just not talking about the real issues here. >> meanwhile, there is this emergency liquidity assistance program, which the ecb extended to 65 billion until the end of

last week. -- at the and of next week. they could shut off that assistance. does that tell us that that likelihood is not going to happen? they will not shut off that program? >> ticking the can down the road with more cash in the short run. this is hoping that something will appear on the horizon. yes, you look at the eurozone growth figures on friday, and growth returned to well certainly to germany, which had a falling euro, and they are hoping that spread wider, and that as a substitute for what we really need here, which is increased german fiscal spending, and the kind of money you are talking about is simply kicking the can down the road. >> as we look at some of the polls overnight, there were some demonstrations against, showing more support for this

government. when we reached that sort of close of business on the 28th when a deal has to be done, the greeks are going to have to take more pain, aren't they, in order to get the germans on their side? >> there will have to be some compromise. let's look at the statements the minister made in greece and the statements the german finance minister said. in terms of a deal, you can make payments contingent on some element of the primary surplus, which is the greek position, and you can just increase the term play around and find a solution. but the question is, where does that take us to? it takes us nowhere, ultimately. >> let's go with that conversation a little bit. this raises all kinds of questions about europe about the

rise of extreme parties or at least extreme up the political spectrum parties. if we look at germany, there was an election in hamburg, and we saw one group getting their first entry into the west german state. do we read anything out of greece and germany, and we will talk about u.k. in a moment, changing politics in europe? are things developing in a way we understand right now? >> probably more from a perspective of how poorly the party of angela merkel does and what position that puts her in about concessions to the greeks, but the two big him a flashing risks to me remained france and italy and the rise of marine le pen in france. close to the u.k. here, so what does that mean? i think it means the taxpayers have become sick and tired with actually not being spoken to honestly about

the future entails. i think everybody in the eurozone understands that we either have to have structural reforms, the economies look the same, or we have fiscal integration. nobody is talking about that. parties are on the rise. >> we had simon and others speaking over the weekend, suggesting that a move in rates will be a higher one, even after the inflation report suggested we could see further qe and negative rates if deflation persists, which is not in their thinking. is that in your thinking, the next move will be tighter policy rather than easing of policy? >> my view is that it is 2015 in the u.k., and we will see deflation. deflation in the first half of the year as the oil prices -- it

continues to feed into the headline data, but once you get past those and also the general election in may, you can see wages taking over as the key driver, the key determinant. you look at the labor market figures coming out in the u.k. now almost 18 months, they have just been getting stronger and stronger, and they are already seeing the margins and the hotel industry. this goes back to the kind of normal conditions that central bankers are absolutely craving after six years at zero interest rates. >> you look at the headlines, which are get ready for your cheap holidays in europe. the sterling against the euro is at a seven-year high. looking at the currency that we way here at bloomberg, you can see it is number three in strength. it is nothing to be swiss, and

nothing to the dollar. it is a strong currency. how does that play into it? >> a strong sterling keep inflation under control, and therefore, that just gives the bank of england longer he for it has to raise interest rates, but it does make it challenging for u.k. exporters, so the increased strength of sterling particularly against the euro it is up 8% over the past six months, and that will obviously make it more challenging for u.k. exporters, but there is a sweet spot right now in terms of the economy, and it is really pointing -- with the obvious exception of productivity, they are really pointing to a very positive picture in 2015. nothing else in the cbi growth forecast. >> and then the parallels we are seeing today and 1974 in u.k. politics. you talk about how we ended up with a hung parliament, and then there was another election pretty quickly after that in

1974. are you expecting that to happen now? things have changed. the rules about calling second elections are different than they were in 1974. some people are suggesting this. what are your thoughts? >> i think that is right. the five-year term, that was predicated on a coalition of an absolute majority. i mean, it isn't obvious where the majority is going to come from. it is very difficult to see a stable coalition. certainly not the last five years or a labor --labour-snp coalition. you spoke about where there wasn't oil price shock that was on the upside. and eu referendum later in 1975. there was an inconclusive election in february and that a second one in october. it does feel a lot like that

period, and i think while a second general election is not necessary, our central scenario a lack of clarity of coalition that we had in 2010 is what we expect to happen this year. >> and that means economically, that is not a bad option, because they cannot do anything then. steady as they go. >> i could not agree more. if you look at what is there today, do you really want politicians micromanaging? you probably don't. you want them stepping back. >> yes. >> and you can expect some of the big builders in the u.k.. simon french, a senior economist. >> it is 6:26 here in london. we're going to take a short break. you can join our conversation on twitter. coming up on countdown, hsbc issues an apology about tax evasion at their swiss unit. we will bring you reaction after

the break. stay tuned. ♪

>> you are watching "countdown" this monday morning, and looking at how exchange traders you the world, as you can see, the dollar is a little lower. the tail sales in america disappointed on friday. we will get the federal reserve minutes of their meeting in january, but as greece and europe come together but the conversation we just had with our last guest, it is that a deal will be done. negotiators come together, so a

little bit of a risk on face. you see the dollar a little bit lower. the yen, we heard about the gdp numbers from john dawson returning to the market than -- but less than expected. the yen rising. the yen is rising for the other day in a row. that is the longest rally and almost a month, and traders are betting. they are the least there's and they have been since july of last year, so you have a bank of japan meeting. they say no further stimulus, and it is whether the japanese will go with more quantitative easing, and that seems to be dissipating and likely giving strength to the yen, and a little bit of weakness to the dollar. have a look at the new zealand dollar, because it is rising at 74.97. retail sales came in at 1.7% for the fourth quarter, and that is

the most since the second quarter of 2012. it is strong. the estimate out there was 1.3% and you see the new zealand dollar actually rise. this says something different. the market is betting much more aggressively against the new zealand dollar, so those are your currencies to come. more at 7:30. >> top stories on bloomberg this hour, japan falling out of recession, but growth figures out weaker than expected. gdp grew by 2.2% over the year, and the softness of the rebound showed the progress of shinzo abe in reinvigorating the economy. and jamaica rolls-royce has been accused of bribery to obtain a contract with the brazilian oil company petrobras and they say they paid via an agent in exchange for a $100 million contract. in a statement, the company says

we will not tolerate improper business conduct of any sort and will take all necessary action to assure compliance. and dubai world, a state owned company it may complete the reorganization of billions in debts. they have stakes in the port operator in the emirates, and they have agreed to a plan that would extend the terms of its debts. >> now, back in focus today security firms said a gang of hackers have stolen as much as $1 billion from banks and financial institutions across are the countries in a series of raids over the course of several years, and joining us is caroline hyde. caroline, good morning. it is being called unprecedented cyber robbery. is that fair? >> i think it is because of the scale of institutions hit this. we understand as many as 100

banks and financial institutions. this is all being gathered together by a company, a data company that has antivirus software. they are a russian company, and they work with interpol and others to uncover this plot. as i said, it cost 100 institutions across 30 countries, the u.s., china, europe, and since 2013, they have been stealing at each bank about $10 million which is the maximum they have been able to do, and the gang behind it russia, china, ukraine and other parts of europe. >> working with the machines and we have seen videotape. how did they actually do it? >> they have been doing it since 2013. what they have done is they actually infected bank employee computers with this particular malicious software done by this

gang, and they spread within the internal net >> -- networks. the people who worked there, the employees, the staff, and suddenly you are allowing them to mimic certain staff members and activities and they inflated balances of certain accounts so they could start pocketing the extra funds, the fraudulent funds without anything arising from immediate suspicion and then there were the networks that they seized control of atm machines so they could spew out money outside particular atm's where some gang members fortuitously stood outside. this is where it came to attention. this is how an eastern european bank caught them taking money without seemingly having any card on them so that raised suspicion, and that other banks

got in touch with this rushing data lab and started saying look we are having these issues, and they could suddenly start to piece all of us together, so really fascinating stuff. we have to remember that these things keep on occurring, and many institutions think it is not if we will get hacked but when will we get hacked, and the police last year 50 million atm's spewing out money, and they were able to make some arrests. we saw the united arab emirates oman, banks affected by this electronic stealing, and it is not just data being stolen. cash, $1 billion worth. >> caroline, thank you very much. caroline hyde. >> hsbc's ceo is offering his sincerest apologies. fresh details about how their swiss units helped customers

even a taxes. the bank has absolutely no appetite to do business with clients who are evading their taxes, he said and i have to say, i can't say which newspaper it is, but there it was. it was an apology from gulliver who took over running the company in 2011, and of course this goes back to the employee who stole the information about who has private clients in geneva, and gulliver is saying since 2008, the private bank has been completely overhauled with absolutely no appetite as that showed you, to do business. the swiss private bank, and i think this is the one that jumped out at me, almost 70% of the clients they used to do business with in geneva were no longer. 140 clients, 106 of them are gone. it has fundamentally changed the way it runs the bank. to a certain extent, this is public relations, but it has more into a political snowstorm.

>> yes, 79 days to go until an election, and these revelations that british citizens were among those. >> yes. >> 3600 u.k. individuals, and some were put over the coals for scrutiny, saying they failed to take action for those who were listed on these leaked documents, and u.k. parliament treasury committee is going to question the head by the end of the month, so he was the cfo between 1995 and 2010. prime minister cameron has been embroiled in this because he appointed the prior hsbc chairman trade minister in 2011 and labour has been making hay, suggesting that the conservative party failed to ask the right questions about stephen green. this is what he says. >> hsbc had 1000 individuals

that were even dating tax, breaking the law and what happens is that the guy in charge of the bank the minister, and david cameron and george osborne did not ask the questions about laundering. >> of course, all of this has market implications. it was weak on february 8 at the international consortium that is a consortium of journalists releasing their reports and since then, hsbc shares dropping, and they had their worst weekly drop since last year, and it was the worst performing u.k. bank last week out of seven listed on the footsie index. and out of 49 listed banks on a u.k. index, and gulliver who has been ceo since 2011, interestingly hsbc's total return, share price plus

dividend, 2.8%, a positive 2.8%. and a -1%. hsbc under gulliver has outperformed the entire industry, which is weighted down by litigation and regulatory risk. >> this is the other. it has got the political issue you covered, but last year, they settled a criminal case in the u.s. and pay penalties, and they were the first bank to admit a crime in the u.s., and i think this is where the next level of this story eventually goes because once you pay your litigation, you have to behave yourself. for a period of five years, you cannot be found guilty of anything else, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes with the u.s. >> and you can get all of the details wrapped up. it is on bloomberg.com, that story. go to bloomberg.com for that. >> and join the conversation on

twitter. tell us what you are following. tell us what you think of this show this monday morning. there is anna, and manus. back from zürich, speaking fluent japanese. and mark barton. >> in london, still to come on countdown, oil prices rally, and a political shift rocks the region. stay tuned. we are back in a couple of minutes. ♪

>> the top stories on bloomberg this hour. support of angela merkel hitting eight post war low, and the parties split to a 60% share of the vote, down from 21% of for your years ago. germany's second-biggest city could still be forced to seek a coalition. danish police say a gunman suspected of murdering two people in copenhagen had a criminal record and had been involved in gangs. the 22-year-old was killed while opening fire on officers. he had been hunted by police after shootings that left one person dead at a café and another fatally wounded at a synagogue. prime minister benjamin netanyahu urged jews to move to israel. european jews are expected to continue and israel was preparing for mass immigration from the continent.

egypt's president says he is banning egyptians from traveling to libya following the release of a new islamic state video which appears to show the beheading of 21 egyptian christians who had been taken hostage in libya. >> and the rally in crude continuing, brent climbing above $60 per barrel. cutbacks by u.s. rulers and oil-rich libya providing a boost to prices. and saudi arabia, stocks have hit a 12 week high on the advance, and they are looking for a sign of a saudi policy shift. here to discuss all of this is florence, ceo and chief economist at arabia monitor. good morning. thank you for joining us. i suppose gcc countries are breathing a sigh of relief, with weeks in the oil industry. the fiscal equation is made more sustainable, isn't it? >> going forward, the prices

continued to rise, and where they are right now is still below the breakeven for all of these gulf economies. however, the impact you are seeing, as they are addressing this since the beginning of the year in egypt and saudi arabia to the tune of 10% it has to do with the optimism that comes with even the slightest of increases in oil prices. however, the average for those economies is around $90 per barrel. what is bolstering confidence is the level of savings. for example in saudi arabia, the government reserve account at the central bank, which is separate from the foreign reserve at the central bank, can sustain the country for about five years at the same level as this year, so as much as this buttresses confidence in these economies, but the oil price at or around $25 is not going to do it in terms of their breakeven price today. >> from the market perspective the middle east continuing to

cut the price, to asia and beyond come but that stock market has been one of the best-performing. it is up 7%. society is setting themselves up to counterbalance the issue with issuing equity, which is a huge, huge step forward to bolster the economy, isn't it? >> yes, absolutely. saudi arabia has the opportunity to be a new benchmark, and it is a large economy, certainly the largest in the arab world and the diversification drive in saudi arabia is what is motivating the opening up of that further. it is because the kingdom once alternative sources of investment coming into the economy in terms of portfolio flows and obviously the portfolio flow piece is essential to the further opening for investors. >> i would have thought at a

very basic level that the weaker oil price compared to last year would have been damaging for the economies of the middle east and north africa, but looking at your forecast, in your notes 2015 gdp seen at 3.2%, is higher than 2014. two-week overestimate the role of the gcc countries or what the weakness of the oil price does to the gcc countries? what is happening here? >>deuce overestimate the role? -- do we overestimate the role? >> this is the normal economy growth roughly double. obviously, that is because of the gradual decline in the price of oil, but also because there is the real difference in growth in those economies which is now coming out of the nonoil sectors, and that is part of the

diversification drive. it is a good thing. now, would this be sustainable if prices continue to hover around $48, the $50 price range? it would be difficult, because it is a virtual circle created in those economies by oil. they are not yet on their own two feet with respect to a nonoil economy. >> saudi arabia as a new king, of course, florence, and many thought that the arrangements for the succession -- they are calling it the succession question -- had been resolved when he died, but now there are some doubts. what is going on with the succession question? >> i do not think there are doubts. i think there are questions about how rapidly the third-generation will take the reins in the country, and so it is quite interesting, for example that the man has been

named the second deputy prime minister, meeting second in command and second in line to the throne after the prince and after the king. now, this says two things. in the short-term, it says no major change, and, for example, the change in oil policy when the cabinet shuffle took place, but in the longer term, it implies there could be quite a lot of change because you now have a new generation coming to the throne. >> florence, thank you very much the ceo at arabia. thank you for joining us this morning. we have some breaking news. >> we do. the regional chief in donetsk has said schelling has resumed justin two days into the cease-fire arrangement or the truce. it seemed to be at risk of unraveling after the first day of the cease-fire brought a

decrease in violence, so the governments in kiev, the progression militants, they have been accusing each other of several violations near this key hub, a key junction that connects the rebel held cities of donetsk and luhansk and the regional police chief says that the schelling has continued near this hub, which seems to suggest that the truce remains fragile, if that at best. >> we also have breaking news another big issue, the focus of meeting today with the counterparts, the greek minister , and the finance ministers saying there there is a chance of an accord today. the french finance minister is speaking on tv, and saying europe as detected -- protected itself by bailing greece out in

the past, and they go onto to say greece still has efforts to make its economy, so we will see those. through the morning, and we will bring them to you. coming up we will be looking at our favorite stories from bloomberg digital, including amazon deliveries by drone. not quite yet. details, next. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." let's take a look at some of the stories today, and let's start with crohn's. if you are waiting for amazon to show up at your door, delivering your product i drones, do not hold your breath. the u.s. regulator has gone through the first stage of trying to approve autonomous vehicle, was but it is not going to allow drone liveries. it will allow the job or fee, agriculture, and various things will be a loud, but not drone deliveries zip amazon google alibaba, it does not look like it is coming just yet. >> it is strange that you mentioned alibaba. what they do, what they trade him, what positions they have got, and it sort of matters because they are pretty hefty investors, and they have been selling alibaba shares, and they

sold 7 million depository receipts, is what they called, of them. the biggest decrease, the biggest trade that they did, dropping their holdings in u.s. listed companies, and, of course alaibaba is still up. they were selling when all of the world was lying. >> a buster. >> did you make that word up? >> it has been used in jackie collins books. i am talking about if the shades of gray, opening for records for elephantine state and presidents' day weekend, and this is a r-rated film. it was made for $40 million, and it has made over 230 $9 million

and sadomasochism is back. >> i do not know if anybody can top that line. >> "countdown" continues in the second hour. 6:56. we will take a short break. ♪

them and should of support in athens -- demonstrations of support in athens. denmark steps up security after this weekend's terrorist attacks left two people dead. we are live from the danish capital. >> japan escapes recession, but growth remains modest as the third-largest economy expanded less than expected. >> a report says an online hacker stole as much as one billion dollars from banks worldwide in an unprecedented cyber robbery. ♪

>> hello, welcome to countdown. coming up, japan escapes recession. growth remains modest. the world's third biggest economy expands less than expected. we will take you through the gdp figures. >> it has just gone 7:00 here in london. let's talk about brussels. euro area finance ministers will reconvene for news talks aimed at financing greece and its competitors. the prime minister said he was competent of a favorable outcome from greece. signs of compromise said greece stocks high. the finance minister says there is a chance of an accord today. hans nichols has been monitoring developments, and he joins us from berlin.

talking this morning, what else did he have to say? >> mr. sip then -- tsipan warned there was a huge danger for greece if it leaves the eurozone. he said the debt write-down would be a big mistake. he almost sounded german. here is what we are going to get from the greek side. they are facing a european front that is pretty united. mr. verify this -- mr. varafacas is likely to talk about how confident he is. he says, i am full of confidence. you are either thinking they are holding the feet to the fire or they could have more like worm because -- like worm because 61%

say they support the -- more legroom because 61% say they support the tsipras government. they maybe have leeway to renegotiate some of the payouts. take a look at the outstanding debt. it is the european stability financial front. it is 141 billion. the ecb has about 25 billion in outstanding debt. the last figure is important, because it is the sum of the proceeds from the 25 billion. it's close to 2 billion. greece wants part of that is a way to tie them -- tide them over from potentially a new deal in june. greece needs to stay in the current bailout throw graham.

the imf/eu/ecb program. -- current bailout program. >> are there any signs the germans are prepared to give ground on anything? >> technical advisors are meeting over the weekend. they are identifying common areas of agreement and disagreement. while the germans may seem willing to give, there is a little bit on tax collection. a little bit on may be potentially lowering the surplus of debt over gdp greece is allowed to spend. you can see that coming down a little bit. this has to be hashed out at the finance ministers meeting. i suspect they will have a late night in brussels. >> thank you very much. about to head to brussels of course. >> a standoff in the town.

the key of government and pro-russian militants both accuse each other -- kiev government and pro-russian militants both accuse each other . our correspondent has been following developments. what is the latest on the cease-fire? we have these headlines that there is more military action. have there been violations? >> the cease-fire has largely been respected by both sides, although there have been violations, especially in the area. it is an important area for government troops and the rebels because it is a key rail juncture between the rebel held cities and currently it is controlled by government troops. it is a key area for both sides of the conflict. poroshenko the ukrainian

president merkel, and putin spoke on the phone and emphasized the results of the cease-fire should be respected. >> one has the sense this is one mighty push i the rebels to landgrab before the final line of map drawing is done over the next six to eight months. what are people saying about the likelihood of this cease-fire completely unraveling? is it too early to make that kind of call? >> it is a big concern. over the past year we have seen several cease-fires. we have seen the minsk accord, and work -- people were hopeful each time. this has already killed more than 5000 people. so far we haven't seen any signs of peace.

we will be watching the situation every day. the truce is widely respected, but there are concerns about such cities. the u.s. military and intelligence officials are convinced the rebels will at some point stop respecting the cease-fire and continue the push . it links russia -- mainland russia to crimea. it is a vital city for russia. >> thanks for the update. >> danish police killed the gunman suspected of the attacks that left two people and five police wounded at the capitol. the shootings are being investigated as a terrorist act and security said they could have been inspired by events in paris.

the prime minister said the attacks weren't reflect to of of the western battle with islam but rather against ideologies -- were not reflective of the western battle with islam but rather against ideologies. >> we're not in a fight between islam and the west. this is not a fight between muslims and non-muslims. it is a battle of ideas. >> let's get straight to copenhagen, where security is at an all-time high. good morning. what's the latest, and what do we know about the shooter? >> the shooter was a 22-year-old man. he was born in denmark. police haven't revealed much about him. reportedly he was boasting he was going to carry out an attack

and then was shot. >> how has this changed denmark? >> the city feels different this morning. there were police trucks everywhere. the justice minister said copenhagen needs to brace themselves for a different cityscape. there will be a heavier police presence. police are still conducting raids. we are not clear whether this was an individual madman, or whether he was connected to some cell. >> thank you. live from copenhagen. you can find more of the story on bloomberg.com. the top stories this hour. >> ukraine's cease-fire is at risk of unraveling. the key of government and

pro-russian militants accuse each other of cease-fire violations -- kiev government and pro-russian militants accuse each other of cease-fire violations. quite the bank of england policymakers say it will be temporary, indicatingof more stimulus. the deputy governor for the monetary policy told sky news negative interest rates were possible but not likely. the bankrate will have to rise earlier than expected. >> the chief executive has apologized after fresh revelations of how the swiss unit helped evade taxes. gulliver said the revelations had been a painful experience. he said since 2008 the swiss private bank had been completely overhauled. >> tesco's chief executive could

be planning as many as 10,000 job cuts at the u.k. retailer. up to 6000 of the jobs could go from the head office. 43 store closures have been announced. >> 80 days. ed miliband will set out to boost productivity. he is speaking to counter recent allegations his party is antibusiness. >> a surgery after a diagnosis of prostate cancer. a statement from the office said the surgery went smoothly, and he is respected to make a recovery. it is linked to a previous lymphoma treated more than two decades ago. >> a quick reminder it is presidents' day in the united

states. a national holiday marking george washington's birthday and the markets will be closed. asian markersts positive throughout the trading day. tell us what your interest is. >> coming up, we will speak to the ceo of the world's second-largest drink server. he joins us to do if after taking the helm. stay tuned for that. ♪

>> it's a little bit early in the morning. whiskey saw stagnation in sales one it reported earnings -- when it reported earnings. joining us is alexander ricard. you are new to the job. february 11 you took the reins a day before the earnings were released. what does it mean? what is your vision for the company less than a week into the job?

>> it is our corporate signature. it is about all these moments of conviviality and consumption of spirits around the world. >> and the you put a special stamp on this? will there be a special stamp you will put into the business that hasn't been there in the past? >> is it -- it is all about putting a brake on the edifice. the foundation is remarkable. it's not about change but about acceleration. >> there are 14 key brands. or is absolute vodka -- there is absolute vodka, which i grew up with. then there is the sexiness that goes with regal. is there room for everyone in your family? are you going to get aggressive and say, you can stay, and you

can go? >> i was talking about these different moments of consumption. we have brands for every moment of conviviality around the world. if it is a friday evening or saturday night. if you want to go with friends or elevate with family, every one of our brands can capture these moments. >> you're not selling any of them? >> no, we have a beautiful portfolio. we have the largest portfolio and it is all about management. >> are consumers trading up? will the trend continue despite slowdown of many of the world's leading economies? >> if you look at the largest market, which is the united states, you will see the growth

is driven by sections such as whiskey and cognac. >> let's talk about business in china. you have to ship a slightly lower price to keep up with legislation as it has changed in china. what do we expect from the margins? do they get to where they were or do they stay at the lower level? >> there is a gradual improvement. the market is still in decline but to a lesser extent. the big thing is about chinese new year, which is taking place on the 19th of february. the good thing about our portfolio in china is it is a pretty large portfolio. yes, the capital is suffering but it is growing. >> let's talk about strategy. you said it's about conviviality. you are not going to sell any brands.

each of the brands have a certain amount of autonomy in terms of developing their individual market. under your tenure is that going to continue or are we going to see more power in terms of marketing and brand? is there more efficiency in the use of the marketing dollar? you need to be efficient in this market. >> there are three key words. innovation and extension. i was mentioning acceleration being the keyword, and it will be driven by the luxury segment. when it comes to innovation we will have a full digital focus as well. finally i would like to mention our new frontier, which is the african continent, which is growing significantly. >> you are very keen on social media. you are interested in how

consumers behave at the moment of consumption when they make their choices. what have you discovered? >> i will tell you one thing. to consumers out of three make their decision in the last three feet. the key point is to make sure you are top-of-the-line. from a visibility point of view from a marketing point of view. you get to make sure you are there. that is key. from a digital point of view it is accelerating our way of working internally. there is technology that didn't exist three years ago. finally, e-commerce, which is one of the fastest-growing channels nowadays. >> you are passionate about many

parts of this business, but in particular some of the irish business. jamieson whiskey is -- -- jamieson whiskey is something -- jameson whiskey is something you presided over. >> all of the key criteria are green. jameson grew double digits, 10%. it has been in existence in 1780. there is a milestone has -- that has been bridged. it is a 2 million case milestone. it is about engaging in a contemporary way. it is a serious whiskey which doesn't take itself seriously.

>> day four of the job. >> thank you so much. >> coming up, hsbc issued an apology for tax evasion for helping people invade taxes, and we bring you the reaction on the story, so stay tuned. ♪

>> offering his sincerest apologies following fresh details from the swiss unit, how customers evade taxes. he told several newspapers the bank has no desire to deal with clients who are evading taxes. i opened up a couple of the newspapers, and this goes back to the man who stole information from private science. it is really bubbling into a huge issue in the u.k. there are 8000 wealthy british people who avoided fines. gulliver took over in 2011. he said, we no longer do

business in this manner. we fundamentally changed the bank. it is compliance. if you want to know how the money is being spent, go and train, but it is a big public relations issue. >> a political storm. the labour party missing the opportunity to try to make this for the conservatives. the shadow chancellor was at the treasury. this is him speaking at the bbc. >> hsbc had 1000 individuals, whether it be even dating taxes, breaking the law, and what happens is the guy in charge of the bank was a minister. that's whether it is a evading taxes, breaking the law, and what happens is the guy in the charge was a minister. lacks the biggest decline are among european banks, all 4 -- >> the biggest decline or among european banks.

shares plus dividend up by 2.8%. he is outperforming the industry. >> we will be back in a couple minutes talking about the property industry in the u.k. ♪

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>> welcome back. checking in on the foreign exchange markets this monday morning. dollar sterling you have sterling rising by a quarter of 1%. the deputy governor told sky the next move could be on the upside. he pulled back earlier in the year. told the observer inflation will be above trend in 2017.

sterling is trading higher. how is it looking in terms of overall risk? this tells an interesting story. the dollar is down by a quarter of 1%. the bloomberg index is down. i think we are building up to a couple things. one, the greeks coming to brussels again after negotiations. will they do a deal? debt forgiveness is not on the agenda. i think the overall positivity is still coming through in the fx markets. the yen also strengthening. this is an interesting one. rising for the third day, the longest rally in a month. dollar down, yen rising. it messes with the had a little bit. the longest rally in almost a month. traders are the least irish. -- bearish.

the bank of japan will meet on wednesday. he overall analyst assumption is this. we spoke to analysts. they have said it is unlikely you are going to see a change by the bank of japan. you have growth, which is less than what the market estimated. growth is coming out of recession. the yen is strengthening. the assumption is they are not likely to go ahead with more qe. >> the top stories this hour. japan has called its way out of recession. the growth is weaker than expected. gdp grew by 2.2% over the year. the softness of the rebound shows the scale of the prime minister's task in revising the economy. the yen weakened against the

dollar 28% since all they took power in 2012. rolls-royce said it won't tolerate improper conduct in response to allegations it used bribery to obtain a contract with petrobras. the report says rolls-royce paid the a an agent in exchange for a 100 million dollar contract. in a statement the company said we will not tolerate improper business conduct of any sort and will take all action necessary to ensure compliance. the state-owned company dubai world may complete the reorganization of more than $40 billion worth of debt within a month. the creditors have agreed to a plan that would amend and extend the terms of its bailout. >> italy's richest man richart ferrero died. he is the owner of the group's

famed as the maker of the tele-spread. let's bring in our editor. for ari, our money -- how did a relatively unknown lay claim to italy's biggest fortune? you think ambassador, but there you go. >> this is one of those classic stories the italians are proud of. the company started during world war ii. they opened a candy shop and opened a factory. they expanded into a nationwide distribution network, which has become one of the largest chocolate companies. >> who will be the richest person? >> ironically, the way closely held companies are held, they

don't actually own the shares. they are owned by his son. he had two sons. one of them died in a cycling accident. he has been operating as ceo. in effect, the sun will most likely become the richest arson in italy. we need to confirm that with the company, but that's probably the way it will go. >> what is going to happen next? we have had part of the family succeeding to power -- coming to power. what happens next? where does the money go to? >> we believe it will go straight to him. he controls the company now. i don't think there is going to be a change. we will confirm later today. the sun has been -- son has been

running the business essentially since 1997. i don't expect much to happen with the ferrero fortune. it is bigger than the second-biggest company. the chocolate business has performed less spectacularly than the designer sunglasses is mr. a ferrero -- business. and may actually flip at some point this year. >> what happens to the tele--- the tele--- happens to nutella. how do you say that? >> it depends where you are from. >> she is french. >> on the wrong side of the pond we say nootella. >> i say nutella. >> what is happening? >> i don't think anything will

happen. they have had struggles with the brand in the u.s. because people complained it is not healthy it is creating obesity. americans don't need help creating obesity. they have never suffered from the backlash. it is still the largest selling chocolate spread in the world. >> i can't even think about what the number two selling chocolates bread would be. >> there are a couple of knockoffs -- chocolate spread would be. >> there are couple of knockoffs. it is like kleenex. or bloomberg television. >> why would you watch anything else? >> thank you very much. it's always nice to know where the money is going. >> let's change gears a little bit from chocolates to retail property. we had earnings this morning. joining me to break down the numbers is the company's ceo. thank you for joining us this

morning. you credit your increase in profits -- you say it is due to a recovery of the consumer. on the french side you talk about encouraging improvements. i am interested in how divergent are these businesses. the u.k. on one hand and france on the other. >> if you say the u.k. there is no doubt the recovery we have seen in the southeast has moved out of the region. we have seen two and a half percent or 3% across the u.k. that enabled us to grow rent in the u.k. francis lower. sales have been -1%. that is an improvement. when you look at the environment, what we are aimed

at is providing space in the right locations. for example, we opened a shopping center in marseille last year. we had 8 million people through the doors already, and the retailers are saying it is trading above expectation. the usual at danish -- adage of if you buy the right thing in the right spaces. >> you say you remain confident about the ability to maintain growth. what implications could there be? what message do you want the politicians to hear from the retail policy sector? >> i want to assure this recovery is not disturbed by an election. i think there is every reason to suggest whichever party you favor or believe will come

through, whichever combination will take leadership. that they understand that, and i think the growth in employment will continue and therefore i believe with reduction in oil prices we have seen, reduction in food prices there is more disposable income available. i believe spending will continue. i am not concerned from a political point of view. if anything, it's almost the immediate speculation to create a slight pause in spending. even that should be relatively short-lived. >> there aren't any particular agreements between parties that would be better or worse than the property sector? >> no, you take one point. retail represents about 5% of gdp growth in this country, yet the retail industry pays over

20% of all commercial business rates. all the major parties have announced they will review the system in this country postelection, so there is a good example where whatever the outcome, there should be some form of positive outcome for the retail industry. >> when we talk to big supermarkets in the u.k. we hear a lot about the rise of the discount supermarkets and to some extent that is coming at the expense of some of the more traditional supermarkets. how does that trend go into your thinking in terms of planning retail space? how does the trend fit into the strategy you have got? >> our job is to manage the demand. if you have one group that is growing, our job is to provide space for them. what we're finding is overall demand for space is smaller units that we have had in the past. it is a case of taking can some cases raking those units up.

i don't think it's a major issue. if you look at some of the major supermarkets, tesco closing 39 stores. that is less than 1% of overall store footprint. i think while the headlines might be significant, actual fact on the ground it makes very little difference to our overall retail parks. >> think you david atkins -- thank you, david atkins. >> the ceo is saying elections don't interfere with their overall plan. i'm getting ready for the top of the hour. to join us on twitter. >> the ceo david atkins telling anna he is worried the u.k. election will cause a slowdown in spending. next, it's bar chart time.

has the yen bottomed against the dollar? find out after the break. ♪

>> time for the bar chart. has the yen bottomed against the u.s. dollar? it is a question worth asking. it showed japan hobbled in the fourth quarter.

the spotlight is firmly on the boj after bloomberg news reported some officials think further monetary easing to shore up inflation would be to have. policymakers are concerned it could trigger further declines in the yen to damage consumer confidence. let's look at the dollar again over the last 12 months. the hive for the dollar 121.46. -- the hive for the dollar, 121.4 6 -- high for the dollar 121.46. for the most of the time the yen has been stuck in the 116-120 trading range. analysts we have surveyed forecast the yen to weaken to

1.19 in the first quarter, 1.22 in the second quarter 1.25 in the fourth quarter. sac so bank is the most confident. citigroup is penciling in 130 two yen. on the bullish side ubs and mitsui with a 115 yen forecast. in the short term, investors are reducing to the least since july of 2014. that is on speculation the boj will refrain from easing its policy this week. the currency strategist at commonwealth bank of australia says, we think boj will announce more policy easing on april 30. that will be a major catalyst for dollar yen to lift

significantly. remember the last time the boj used policy -- eased policy. october 31. the yen fell from 1.092 one point -- 1.09 to 1.16 in just two weeks. has the boj gotten in there to surprise the markets again? leading to the question has begin autumn against the dollar -- the yen bottomed against the dollar? >> the former angela merkel party has hit a postwar low. the party slid to a 16% share of the vote, down from 21% four years ago. social democrats won the election. the mayor of germany's second largest city could be

forced to seek a coalition with the greens. a gunman suspected of murdering two people in copenhagen had been involved in gangs. he says he had been hunted by police. in response to the attacks, israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu urged jews to move to israel. and that israel was planning for mass immigration. and banning egyptians from traveling to libya. this follows the release of a new islamic state video that appears to show the beheading of 21 egyptian christians who had been taken hostage in libya.

>> let's move on. the overhaul at tesco is continuing. reports that 10,000 jobs are to go. herewith an update at one of the biggest retailers is caroline hyde. let's talk about dave lewis and his challenges. some of the changes he needs to make are becoming clearer. >> he made a lot of promises about how he is going to be reigniting profitability. we know the pressures they are facing. we are seeing the likes of competitors announcing price cuts, really taking on tesco and he is having to cut jobs. we understand it is being reported some 10,000 jobs could go. to put that in context, that is only two and a half percent of people employed. >> the strategy is about who you

take out. >> 6000 are going to be coming from head office and 43 store closures. they were announced in january. 6000 is not that surprising to many. 4000 are coming for an overhaul in the actual stores. dave lewis is looking to strip out a layer of management that currently exist. -- exists. they are between store manager and shop assistants. it's unclear -- we understand they will be offered alternative roles, but we don't know if it will be the same pay level. we don't know if any of them will be full-time. this has to be following the results of the consultation process, which has kicked off in january. dave lewis promising big cuts head office cuts by 30%, saving 250 million pounds a year. these things are going to be big numbers. >> the management team has a lot on its plate.

they are looking for a new chairman. >> they have so much to do at the same time. a new chairman is what they have in hunting for. richard broadbent said, the occult because it was announced there was a black hole in their account to the tune of a quarter of a billion pounds. he felt so many issues tesco's has been facing, they have to take the hit. we are looking at a new chairman. i understand some of the names are getting thrown around. the chairman has been reported to be potential he one of the key people they are eyeing up. that's potentially one of the key people they are eyeing up. overall, we have a lot on tesco's play. they are being investigated by the fraud office. -- tesco's plate. they have the grocery store

investigating suppliers. an awful lot going on. living up to his name, some 10,000 jobs are being reported by the telegraph. >> thank you. caroline hyde. >> we are a few minutes away from the start of trading. the telecom billionaire is stepping up plans for potential takeover of the mobile carrier. it is a 2014 rerun again. the french telecom industry consolidation. here to put context around the deal is meant well -- men well -- manuel. this is déjà vu. we saw this was a big stumbling block last year. >> here is the telecom market again. we saw telecoms in europe

consolidating to try to boost profitability and to offer a better source of high-speed wireless networks. we are poised to go to france after the u.k. -- he is preparing playing the groundwork for a potential takeover of greek telecom. >> will they be any luckier than the team from gilead thomas who tried to buy it? >> they tried last year. there was a significant price including 3 billion euros. it is believed they want more deals this year after they agreed to buy from vivendi and also the portuguese assets last year. i think they are keen on more deals, and despite the valuation

for telecom being very high we may see them succeed. >> the mma in the telecom sector, it continues. where does it end? it is never going to end. >> exactly. i think the industry is poised for more consolidation. we have so many carriers here in europe, compared to the u.s., so i think there is no other solution but more consolidation. >> great to get your input. 30 million customers, the numbers. great to have you with us. >> piling up some deals. >> on the move is next.

the gdp in japan missed against estimates this morning. live in tokyo to get investor reaction. the business ending talks. we will see you tomorrow.

>> good morning, and welcome. i am jonathan ferro. we are moments away from the start of european trading. it's get straight to the morning brief. japan crawls out of recession. japan's economy is far below expectations. prime minister abe's request to revive the economy remains a challenge. crunch time in brussels again. european finance ministers meet to end the standoff. when he thousand greeks rally in athens, urging the greek government not to back down. -- -- 20,000 greeks rally

in athens, urging the greek government not to back down. tensions grow over a contested held -- hub. futures markets just a little lower. dax features down about a quarter of 1%. you look at japan, the nikkei goes through 18,000, poses at that level for the first time since 2007. the dax closing at a record high. manus cranny with the market open. it looks like we're going to come off the highs. >> everything is looking so robust. discussions of greece. both of those are very fragile. greece was up 11%. the dax rope through. you are talking about the nikkei breaking through. u.s.