>> thousands march in memory of boris nemtsov. >> china tries to cushion its economy with a rate cut. we go to hong kong as markets react. >> hsbc. alleges management wasn't aware of lax control at its swiss bank. >> and tech leaders embarking on barcelona. we go to the conference for the latest gadget unveiling and interviews.

>> hello. welcome to "countdown." i'm mark barton. >> i'm manus cranny. >> it is malan's -- milan's turn for fashion week. despite russia's economic growth -- >> is still feel they have in luxury one of the best consumer goods. >> tens of thousands marched to moscow to honor the slain political activists boris nemtsov. what was intended to be in opposition rally turned into a memorial march read ryan chilcote has the story. >> this is the opposition's first protest of the year. it is no ordinary demonstration.

it was a post about russia's economic growth and a protest against the war in ukraine. it is now a march of mourning. one opposition leaders organized this very protests. this is the spot where nemtsov was struck down friday night. he was going for a stroll by the kremlin. thousands of people have come here to leave flowers and pay their respects. they just keep coming. there are many versions of theories both official and unofficial. some say it was for his opposition to vladimir putin. others say for his opposition to the war in ukraine. poroshenko says nemtsov was about to reveal evidence of russian troops in ukraine. the kremlin has denied any involvement. the russian president sends condolences to nemtsov's mother.

today was a day of mourning one of the leaders of the opposition on the eve of one of the biggest demonstrations in recent memory. ryan chilcote bloomberg, moscow. >> chinese stocks digesting a mixed weekend of news on the economy. more evidence of disinflation. with more is yvonne. hello, avon. >> good morning. they cut those lower -- interest rates as the economy continues to show signs it needs support. economist saying more help needs to be there. let's talk about what happened on saturday. they have taken the lending and deposit rates and cut it by 25 asus points down to 2.5% -- 25

this is points down to 2.5%. they are hiking the deposit rate to 1.3 times from 1.2 times. the bank will have more leeway. the timing is very interesting. a day later, we got new factory gate numbers. they are slightly better than expected. some economists are saying it is doing exactly what any central bank would do in this situation. progrowth measures may not extend to the chinese currency. let's take a look at the dollar yen. on a trade weighted basis, it is still a strong currency. it is loosely pegged to the u.s. dollar. you can see it has gained

significantly. 47% in the last few years. the euro gained 18%. economy -- and as for the pressure on the yuan right now. >> still a bit concerned? >> yeah, even more so now. we have got inflation rates numbers coming in. the lowest we have seen in five years. we also got property numbers that came out last week. not in good shape for the markets. a record decline in new home prices. this is all ahead of that gallery that is said to happen on thursday. the big topic is that gdp targets -- will they be lowering that? some expect a growth target around 7%.

it is down from 7.5% from last year. they're hoping this could be a good left for the economy. it might be the boost they need right now. >> thanks a lot, eveyvonne man. >> caroline hyde is on the ground. three edges. all functional. >> they are indeed. we had yet to understand what the current scream does -- screen does. you can see perhaps who is calling you. perhaps your boss wife, husband. that seems to be a functional part of the three sides. these are not one but two new phones for the galaxy range. the s6 and the s6 edge with a

curved screen, a three way screen. this is what everyone is talking about. it is beautiful. metal and glass. it is much is you to break it. it comes in an array of colors. -- it is easier to break it. it comes in an array of colors. that is the style. substance as well. they have made obvious key upgrades. you got a faster processor. the chip is a samsung made chip. no-call come. -- not qualcomm. have got better batteries. faster to charge. two hours of video watching after the battery. new could charge it. -- you could charge it.

before you could have extra batteries on you. nevertheless, sometimes you have to sacrifice things for beauty. they also have samsung pay. you could walk into a shop and use your phone to pay rather than your credit card. this is a big move to gain inroads versus google versus apple pay. we spoke to the vice president of samsung. >> samsung pay is a new interesting technology. it combines three technologies. when we launch it in the u.s. and south korea, it will support a technology we have been using already in our phones for a long time. and we know well -- and we know it well. with three technologies combined

in one samsung pay, we could have over 90% and merchants could be offered a wider range of opportunities. >> 90% retail -- much more than apple. this will be kicked off in the united states and korea. all of these devices and a virtual reality and set that comes on the market. >> what happens next with apple? they are one of the larger devices. it looks appealing. >> you are right. they are china fight apple with the beauty. people are saying this is the most beautiful phone samsung has created. samsung isn't scared to take the

battle straight to apple store. this isn't bendable. remember the iphone 6 was criticized because it could bend within your pocket. compare the videos. you actually got direct comparison. the quality they were highlight was much better. whooping and shrieking in the crowd. try to show what samsung can do versus apple. they also said this is trying to get to asia. apple had made huge inroads in what samsung's natural territory had been. suddenly we see apple that connect with samsung in the last quarter. samsung is worried.

they needed to up the ante here. we will see what the price point is. and how quickly beast fly off the shelves. -- these fly off the shelves. i'm sure apple will come back fighting with their new apple watch. back to you. >> absolutely. the week will turn into a frenzy. caroline, work hard. enjoy barcelona. we'll bring you plenty more from the mobile conference later this morning. michael combes speaks to bloomberg. don't miss that. >> the indian crime -- prime minister talks about the country's fiscal deficit. forecasting a shortfall in gdp. that is higher than the previous

goal. >> the menu lifted the lid on h sbc tax scam gave an interview. the bank management was aware of lax control in this unit. we will bring you more of the interview in about 20 minutes time. xp has agreed to by its rival. both companies have benefited from increasing sophistication of electronic and vehicles. >> the start of a new era. they will have to include more short-term liquid assets. >> join us both on twitter. we are both alert.

tell us about the show. tell us what you think is going on. >> coming up march qe is just around the corner. we'll talk about that after the break. ♪

>> welcome back. it is march.

ecb meets this week. qe is coming. what will it do to the euro? what is going on in japan? one man sets to make sense of it all. the hardest job in the city. [laughter] >> thanks. >> you are our guest on monday morning. traders and investors and hedge funds have had the short bets have upped bets. are you the same thing come through? >> no. when i have seen is a slightly different story. i have seen slight flows back into the euro. the trade was trying to pick up that -- debt.

that is a very short-term trade. as we had towards qe -- >> what do we then use our euros to buy question -- buy? >> ok, typically we look in the high-yield currency but there has been a bit of fluctuation. the areas -- the commodity relating currency, what we normally expect to see our ultralow interest rates. it starts to stabilize and goes a little higher. imac she starting to think -- i'm starting to think it could

be mop -- commodity related currencies that do well. some of them we might need to be cautious. >> i'm looking here at the aussie story. >> look at how well the aussies held up. >> absolutely resilient. >> yeah. probably not a bad thing. probably even better. i think that might be where the money goes. >> how does it counter affect the currency dynamics? it is still very strong, isn't it? do they need to weekend or -- >> i think they'd do still

wanted to weaken. in has been far less involved on a day-to-day basis for the market. i think that makes a huge difference. we could see that from the numbers over the last couple of years. they can concentrate on the interest rates lined in the equation. they are able -- do we get another 5% on this share? >> going back to the data and getting guidance, the dollar is highest since september 2003. the bloomberg index is --

a straight months -- 8 straight months of gain. the hedge fund data adding. is that played on? >> i think that is a reflection of what we have seen. i do not think it is any more than that. >> pound since '09 -- does that surprising? [laughter] >> i have been thinking about this. the best analogy is to look back to after 2010. we were worried about the outcome of the election. none of it mattered at the time. one thing that mattered was the

eurozone. we were a safe haven. we have had greece as a credible alternative. if it easy's over the next couple of months in europe, does that take heat off the pound? probably. monetary policy is heading in one direction. >> we had to leave it there. thank you so much. >> greece about to receive 7 billion euros of its bailout fund. that is after the break. ♪

>> eurozone officials may be prepared to make the first is where smith of greek aid as early as this month if they agree to reform spewed that is according to the chairman of the eurozone finance ministers group -- reform. that is according to that chairman of the eurozone finance ministers group. hans, good morning. what did they have to do for this additional money? >> good morning. greece has to implement reforms immediately. show progress right away.

they might get the cash a little bit early. we know greece may be facing a cash crunch as soon as this month. we don't have any clarity from the ecb on whether they would raise the ceiling. here is what was told to the financial times. "my message to the greeks is try to start the program even before the whole renegotiation is finished. when we got that letter, there is a great deal of skepticism on the ecb and the imf that greece is going to implement their reform. this could be a way for greece to accelerate the process. elsewhere in interview, he said the letter that he received when he called about the same letter he didn't know a lot about the letter. he said it had been altered. that suggest there might be a split between his finance

ministers. a remarkable story. one quick note, remember that story from two weeks ago that the wrong letter had been sent? he said that was a tall tale. the looks like that might be closer to what happened in those tense negotiations in brussels. >> hans quickly, they have been -- i hear the habit accusing spain -- i hear they have been accusing spain of -- how is majored responding? >> $26 billion of aid is on the books. one quick note -- greece needs to sweep in front of its own doors before criticizing elsewhere. angst appeared to be heating -- things appear to be heating up. >> thanks. that was hans nichols in berlin. >> bloomberg space to the men

who lifted the lid on hsbc swiss tax scandal. we will bring you the interview with the whistleblower. stay tuned for that. ♪

>> you are watching "countdown." how is the were looking at the landscape as we go into jobs week? the dollar is just a 10th of a percent higher. let me be the first to say that the wages, how low will they be? mr. williams saying unemployment rate will hit 5%. he was on fox news and encouraged by the recovery we have got. mr. williams is very closely aligned with janet yellen.

the yen as china cuts rates, lower. china cutting rates. the dollar is higher. the big trevor that trigger level -- the big trigger level will be 12048. that is february 11. that is what you want to keep an eye out on dollar yen. we will see a little bit of movement through the week. the dollar is generally higher. what is going on with the aussies? there is a statistical analysis. 15 say there will be a cut tomorrow. joining the merry band of countries and institutions that

are cutting rates. next up are the aussies. sell curo and buyout -- euro and buy a basket of -- back to you. >> the hsbc swiss tax scandal. let's bring in france mean -- francine. good morning. how did this begin? what is he saying? >> we had a nice conversation. we talked about hsbc. we also talked about swiss authorities and his day-to-day life. he can prove hsbc management knew of elected tax abuses -- a legend tax abuses -- allegended tax abuses. >> they were aware of the program that was phased by

private banking generally. and surprise the top management of hsbc are pretending to not even know what it is about. >> does to make this clear, i tried to get more information. he declined to identify any executives. he told me his files provided logical proof. he doesn't have document signed. one could imagine it would be something in the way that counts were set up. >> obviously hsbc, have they reply to you? >> they declined to comment on

allegations. they referred to the banks earlier statement on the report. this report was leaked by that investigative organization. the french authorities alerted -- a came out to the public eye in february. >> i should rephrase that. he spoke about his life. >> we spoke by skype. he says that he has to go from one place to the other. what happened is this was attorney general indicted him because it is a crime in switzerland to steal data. i asked him whether he would return to switzerland to fight the charges. he says he is in touch with swiss politicians. he kept that open. >> we are fighting to go there

and expose the idea of all of that. >> at the moment, there are no plans to return to switzerland. it is something he is considering. >> what are the odds? more juice? more leaks? >> i tried to get more information he was tightlipped. he hinted there is likely to have more information. he calls for european american and asian law enforcement agencies to work together. he seems to want a dialogue. >> thanks, francine. >> dozens marched through russia in honor of political activists boris nemtsov. for more, let's bring in the former u.k. ambassador to russia

and known associate of the russia and eurasia program. great to have you with us this morning. try to put context around these events. horrific events. nemtsov's killing, how much of a blow is that to the alternative voice, the opposition voice, in russia? >> it is to spread fear. no one is safe, it says. this is in the most public possible place. security cameras on the whole time. heavily policed. security cameras were being repaired, so it didn't record anything. all sorts of complications for the reasons of who might have done it. >> people were speculating the reasons. >> i think the reasons and who is responsible is obvious. that is precisely what they are

trying to conceal. it is clear that this was done by some and close to the regime. it was done by somebody who wished to appeal to the high leadership of the regime and is in the spirit of the regime. >> do you give any credence to this personal control that putin is to take over the investigation? >> the same way as personal control over the -- no one will know who is responsible. they may find someone to accuse, but that is not the same thing at all. >> russia stands at a crossroads unless the government returns to civilized politics to avoid further escalation and violence could she says, she fears tragic

consequences in the country. are you concur? >> yes. it is a major wake-up call. we were very impressed by the support for putin. if you asked russians what they expect over the next six months they cannot tell you. that is a bad sign. if you ask yourself the question, if you have such wonderful support -- you get another sort of answer. it is very rigid. it is also fragile. >> obama and merkel have conveyed condolences and combination of the killing. poroshenko in ukraine set that nemtsov was a bridge between russia and ukraine. is that your interpretation

perhaps that he acted as some kind of conduit? >> i suppose we had in mind was here is a leading russian politician who understood that the war in ukraine was not in russia's best interest. i assume that is what he meant you and don't believe he acted as a conduit in the sense used been tasked by the regime to convey messages and channel between the two. >> and being talked about as a potential president in waiting wasn't he? that didn't quite happen. >> that was in 1997. >> of course. what about journalists? what would rush it be like under nemtsov? if you have become president?

can you imagine a russia under nemtsov? >> when i left, thought there was the possibility russia would be come more governed by institutions and understood laws that it has. i understood there was a possibility that it would work effectively. the new president would get on with the parliament. there would be a proper political dialogue. this into in the russia -- the institutions in the russia -- the great thing was not only that he was hugely alive and had a magnetic personality come in eager to talk and full of laughter as well as seriousness but he also stood for ordinary

human values. there was a lot of talk of special russian values. especially russian values in this district. >> give us a brief sense of what happened behind the scenes between the countries like america, russia, britain? >> the first thing that ought to happen is for the countries of the west to begin to have an instinctive realization of the sort of vision that exist in the russia for long-term we have hoped that we would evolve do something more like let's say poland. this is very clear this is not going to happen. there is a consequent risk of

serious crisis in russia leading to a degree of violence in the russia. it is a risk. we have to be aware that. you have to recognize you are dealing with putin for the for siebel future. on the other hand, you must look at it as a whole. human values in russia. there will be an aftermath. >> we had to bring the conversation to a close. thank you for joining us. >> join the conversation on twitter. tell us what you think of the show. you can find a story on our website. that is where we are. we never sleep. anna is a way here do she'll be back tomorrow. don't fret. just one day with us.

>> she will be back. coming up, india's budgets. we have got the full story next. ♪

>> time for today's top stories.

credit suisse bank restated profits. mortgage related litigation in the u.s. the justice department fined morgan stanley. switzerland's second-biggest bank reduced or quarter profits by 25%. warren buffett said fourth-quarter profits -- a new ceo will be chosen internally. france's biggest phone company is interested in a possible deal. he told one french journal it would be a great opportunity for european consolidation. be sure to stay tuned to bloomberg tomorrow. we bring you an exclusive interview.

germany's second-largest utility is going ahead with the sale of its oil, shale, and gas unit. it plans to close the deal with 5.1 billion euros. it is owned by a billionaire. rwe would take the unit back if that is you or u.s. could pose sanctions within a year of completion of the deal. >> presenting a budget that has raised estimates of the country's fiscal facet. -- fiscal deficit. that is higher than a previous goal. let's get more from a chief economist. good morning. thank you for joining us. if the deficit is vulnerable if oil rebounds that is one of the fears and worries.

>> yes and no. i would say if anything that risk is on the downside. the economy is rebounding. when economies are in it up stage, governments tend to -- we would argue we be looking for it to come in low. >> i was waiting to get to what the reserve bank of india would do. you have gone there. it was suggest he is not going fast enough in his rates. you would expect faster rates? >> always on the same page. what can i say? [laughter] >> go on.

>> we are very disappointed. >> did you say his ego has gotten away? or his stubbornness? >> are you making sure i do not get back into india? [laughter] i do not know what is going on there. the art damaging the economy at this stage. inflation is well below where he thinks it should have been. look at monetary -- that is richer indicating -- indications of pressures. it is clear inflation will continue to trend down. interest rates need to be cut quickly. that is on the hope they will get ahead. >> how his he doing?

-- how is he doing? >> he has to increase acid tails. how is he doing? how will they achieve all those things? >> i think he is doing well given that he inherited the last budget. others say he is not going fast enough. the reality is this is a country of 1.2 billion people you're trying to move forward. things won't change overnight. this is india. to steps forward. one step back to it we did three steps forward and one step back which is what we hope, that is positive. he has done a lot it is improving in his attractiveness.

also improving the lives of the common man on the street. that is a huge deal in india. money is going to people that matters. he has done a lot. stepping up infrastructure. tax incentives for new manufacturing units. these are all much-needed reforms. it may not look sexy but they are the things that will make a huge difference to india. >> you have gone through some of those issues cut etc. he is also imposing a tax on the super rest. this that matter -- on the super

rich. does that matter? what does it mean for the billionaire? >> i'm with you on this one. it is neither here nor there. you wonder whether someone is motivated. i think what matters more is what they're doing in terms of simplifying the tax code and coming to grips with tax evasion. they are really fearless. that is what is going to matter. not like squeezing more out of the top people, but increasing. >> any timeline? >> talking about april 2016.

would have liked a former deadline a timetable of how to get there. >i think we will get there. there are political water she has to navigate. >> be will leave it there. >> coming up come a look at our favorite stories come including a look at the samsung s6 smartphone. ♪

>> ok. time for a little bit of a look at the bloomberg digital pix. we are is the most likely place with easiest place to get hacked? basically have got a company setting up a stand to forward the fraudulent hotspot. it allows you to login, pick up your data and login pages that look so credible and real and at the mistress to people how easy it is in terms of getting hacked. >> samsung unveiled its new s6

and s6 edge. it was called truly fantastic. >> stay with us. "countdown" continues in the next hour. ♪

>> tens of thousands march in memory of the russian opposition leader. what's at stake for the kremlin. >> china tries to transition with a rate cut. we will go to hong kong. >> the whistleblower speaks to bloomberg. he alleges management was aware. >> and we will go live to the con -- congress for the latest interviews with the chief.

♪ welcome to countdown. i'm mark barton. coming up from new york to london. fashion week rings the world elite designers to the city. bloomberg caught up with the chief executive. he said despite economic woes the customers are still at the top. >> i think they are one of the consumer goods. i think it will be affected by our products. >> tens of thousands marched room moscow to honor the slade activist, -- slayed activist boris nemtsov. >> this is their first protest of the year but it is no

ordinary demonstration. it was supposed to be about economic woes and an expression of protest against a war in ukraine. it is now a vigil to boris nemtsov who was shot over the weekend. one of the opposition leaders organized this very protest. this is the spot where boris nemtsov was struck down at 11:00 in the evening. he was going for a stroll by the kremlin. thousands of people have come here to leave flowers and pay their respects. they just keep coming. >> there are many theories as to why he would have been killed. some say it was because of his opposition to vladimir putin. some say because of his opposition to the war in ukraine. petro poroshenko says it was because of russian troops. for tens of thousands of people here it is a day of mourning for

one of the leaders of the opposition killed right on the eve of one of the country's biggest demonstrations in recent memory. >> let's get to a major story that broke over the weekend. the murder of the russian opposition, boris nemtsov. tens of thousands marched on sunday in memory. the biggest support of the opposition and years. moscow police estimated the number of marchers at 21,000. ryan chilcote was in moscow for the march and joins us on the phone from ukraine. this was an opportunity to measure the strength of the opposition in russia. we just had a discussion with the former ambassador and he is saying this opposition movement

is growing. what was your sense on the ground? >> that may be wishful thinking. that's what a lot of people who support the opposition, the idea of ending the russian president's rule would think. there were 21,000 protesters police say. protesters say there were 50,000. let's say they were in the middle, and they were the biggest a menstruation in three years. it's important to recognize this was a vigil. there were people from all walks of life that wouldn't normally participate in political activity. in one sense that means the support base for the opposition is getting broader. these russian subscribed to the idea there is a time and place for everything, and this was an event people turned up for in many ways simply because they wanted to pay their respect.

that doesn't mean they will show up at other demonstrations later in the year. they may, but i think it's too early to say this is going to tell the nice the opposition. there was an almost -- going to galvanize the opposition. there was an sense -- a sense people felt hopelessness, that they cannot change things now. >> the parliament is voting today on imf funding. we know that's how critical it is. the currency is under pressure. economic woes are very clear. how does that fit with the country finding its feet economically? where are we? >> this is about ukraine doing what it needs to do to make the imf happy, so the imf gives them the $17 billion as part of a bigger package later in the month.

economically speaking, things are really getting bad precipitously year. we have an inflation rate officially of around 28%. unofficially people are saying it's closer to 65%. the economy is said to contract by 12% this year. >> ryan, we are going to have to leave it there. we will speak to you through the mornings programming. >> let's look as chinese stocks digest a mixed weekend. we had surprise rate cut from the people's bank of china. on the other, more evidence of disinflation. good morning, eve on. -- yvonne. but china has lowered interest rates as the economy continues to show signs.

a surprise move. more help is needed. they are expecting another triple cut in the near future. let's talk about the liquidity to come here. they have talked about lending down 25 basis points eve effective yesterday. the one-year deposit down to two and a half percent. the lending rate 5.35%. some say the timing was right. some even say it was urgent these rate cuts were done. banks have more leeway to lure depositors in with a higher rate above the benchmark. why is this happening? let's take a look at inflation over the last five years. it is zero point 8%, the lowest we have seen in half a decade. then we have a property slowdown, not in good shape. a record decline in home prices in january. some say the bank is doing what

any other central bank would do in this situation. let's take a look at the dollar again, because it has weakened against the u.s. dollar but on a trade weighted basis it is a strong currency because it is loosely pegged to the u.s. dollar. it has hitched a ride, but it has gained 47% over the last three years. take a look at that. the yen versus the euro gained 18%. will the program of measures extend to the chinese currency. some say it may not. the central bank unlikely to allow a large depreciation as the rate cut is going to add more pressure on the yen. >> it was interesting timing since they knew the pmi number would be week again. what did we see? >> it was interesting timing.

a day after they decided to cut the interest rates we got the official numbers coming out of china. for february slightly better than expected. it was the second straight month of contraction. this comes ahead of more timing on thursday when we see the national people's congress annual gathering where policymakers meet to talk about the growth target the goals for the year. some economists expect they're going to be cutting the target. some expected growth target around 7%. >> samsung launched the new generation mobile devices at the annual world congress in barcelona. caroline hyde joins us now. talk is through the three edges. -- talk us through the three

edges. >> yesterday samsung stole the show. everyone is wearing these neon wristbands as they watched not one but two phones be unveiled. if we're talking style and substance, style has got it. it is no longer plastic. that makes it look more high-end. it comes in an array of colors. it does look very beautiful. this is where it gets interesting. they have to up the ante with a faster ross us.

they have faster, brighter cameras. the have better batteries. clearly they are focusing on batteries you can wirelessly connect. the battery cannot separate from the phone that is built in. they are trying to up the ante. they are going for the mobile wallet. we spoke to the vice president about this. have a listen. >> they are very interesting. it will combine three technologies. when we launched in the u.s. and south korea it is a technology we have been using for a long time, over 10 years.

with these three technologies combined, we can cause 90%, and emerge as will be offered a wide array of opportunities. >> 90% of retailers in the united states. that's much more than apple. you can just walk into a retailer using your mobile. this is great leaps and bounds. these, onto the market across 20 countries. >> i understand they are going to take it right to the front door of apple. >> they were in fighting spirit

yesterday. what they did is actually lined up photos. they lined up videos showing one taken by the iphone six and the other by the galaxy f6 and show the quality to say how much better it is. there were complaints they were bent in people's pockets. they both have 20% of the market in the fourth quarter. samsung needs to steal back some of the limelight and is managing to do it. now i have to see how they sell coming april 10. >> enjoy the congress. we are going to bring you more from the mobile world congress.

the ceo speaks to bloomberg in his first interview of the day. you don't want to miss that. >> india's finance minister presents a budget that raises the estimates of the country's fiscal deficits. the forecast is insured for an equivalent of 3.9% of gdp for the financial year starting in april. that's higher than the previous goal of 3.6%. and the bank's management was aware of lax controls in its swiss unit. we will bring more of that interview in about 20 minutes. israel's prime minister benjamin not a new is said -- benjamin netanyahu is prepared to be ready to ask congress. israel knows enough about compromise to be certain a deal would threaten israel's

security. abe protested to north korea about the firing of two short missiles into the sea. north korean missile tests coincided with joint military drills buty the u.s. and south korea. >> you are looking at live video from moscow. this is the tragic scene at the kremlin were the russian opposition leader boris nemtsov was gunned down on friday. protest marches which turned into a reflective march on his death. an estimated 21,000 people attended. >> join the conversation on twitter. tell us what you think about the show. you can always find us @

markbartontv and @manuscranny. >> coming up, we will be talking greece. our next guest thinks the language says greece wants to stay in the eurozone and renegotiate its bailout. that is after the break. ♪

>> let's talk local equities. we are joined by the head of european equities at fidelity worldwide investment. close to closing highs. there are multi-year highs, you name it, it's everywhere. does the rise in equities have legs? >> that's a great question. when we look at markets globally , there are pockets of value. there are areas in the market where you were evaluations have been stretched. liquidity has resulted in a change in yields. we see some securities on proxy were evaluations are being driven by a factor outside their fundamentals, people prepared to pay a higher price fundamentally.

>> the one thing that struck me was investors poured 3 trillion in two global equity markets. 11 billion went into european equity funds in the past two weeks. that's the biggest envelope on record. are you joining that mentality in terms of moving from cash into distribution in europe, or how are you reflecting that? >> as an investor you try not to join the herd. >> better not be left kind. >> i think a lot of what has trayvon the recent enthusiasm towards european equity, i think it has been a result -- i think a lot of what has driven the enthusiasm toward european equity i think has been a result. i take a different view. i think having too great an expectation of how quantitative

easing will actually influence the real economy may be a mistake. my medium-term enthusiasm to the asset class is built more on corporate change. i think it's worth keeping the focus on how much corporate change we are seeing in many big sectors across the market. if anything is going to propel the bull market on equities further, it's corporate activity. bikes which sectors are we talking about? >> it's across the board. if you look at telekom, we are seeing deals. hutch buying 02. outside of the big acquisitions the other thing we are seeing is this process you could call corporate restructuring. that is companies taking their business and restructuring them.

think about siemens and the companies. they are less headline grabbing. you are seeing businesses try to put themselves on a much better standing for the medium and long-term. >> you mentioned the u.k. and europe in part of your introduction. the foreign exchange market is preparing for more volatile. how is fidelity positioning yourself? >> that's a great question. when it comes to politics and the political environment, uncertainty is a great way to describe it. as you go forward you can think about any possible scenario. the interesting thing is you take the u.k. and look at it in the wider context and say, the

problem we have got in the u.k. we have got everywhere. even in very healthy economies -- think about sweden. it has grown very successfully. still, you have the same problem. a gridlocked system. on the downside you could say political uncertainty is very bad. on the upside you can say actually if no individual party is being given a strong mandate to govern, what does that mean? whatever policies they run on whether very negative or seem to be negative the ability to impose those is going to be quite limited. as investors you can say there is uncertainty. also the scope of political interference may be quite low. as investors, a low political interference appeals to the environment.

>> thank you. officials may be prepared to open the gate as early as next month. if the country agrees to reforms. that's according to the dutch finance minister, who is also chairman of the euro zone finance ministers group. let's go to hans nichols. what is this change in timing? what could it mean in terms of the greek situation? >> it could mean more cash for greece. faster if they start showing they want to go through the reforms. that is according to an interview with the financial times. the ecb has not given an indication of what they might do in terms of lifting the ceiling. greece may have a cash crunch soon, in march. he told the financial times, my message to the greeks is to try to start the program before the renegotiation is finished.

that means showing tangible progress before they have a final deal and maybe some of that 7.2 billion euros is still left over in the bailout fund and could be shipped out to greece. otherwise it was a pretty remarkable interview. he said the letter he received from sarah fox's -- he received, siegrist -- tsipris said it had been changed without his knowledge. a remarkable interview. we are waiting for confirmation from athens. at the time for a focus -- at the time varoufakas called it. >> the prime minister, they are pushing greece to the brink, yet we had the irish finance minister hear last -- here last

week, and he was saying we are misinterpreting the spanish position. what has the response been? >> mr. tsipras thought the spanish position was pretty aggressive. sunday we heard they have done a lot to keep greece in the euro. here on the hook for 26 billion in loans. yesterday we got a little news from the german finance minister. he asked the greeks to sweep in front of their own doors, the expression he used, before they start resizing opsware. he noticed the pension payments and minimum wage are lower than other eurozone's. there is still tension. greece faces a cash crunch and there is no real resolution in sight unless greece starts implementing reforms. maybe some of the money will start trickling out. >> thank you very much.

>> coming up, thousands march in moscow in memory of the murdered opposition leader, boris nemtsov . how does his death change the political dynamic in russia? we will have the report from moscow after the break. ♪

>> looking at the foreign exchange market. where were you on the 18th of september 2003? that is where the dollar has been today. that's the highest it has been. yesterday the san francisco reserve governor. u.s. unemployment will fall to 5% by the end of the year. broad-based gains in the economy, positive consumer development. it is jobs week.

the most recent voice would be the san francisco fed with a bullish view, taking the dollar to new 10 year highs. china cut their rates. but normally drives the aussie dollar a little bit higher. it is china versus the reserve bank of australia. you are seeing the aussie dollar down over 4/10 of 1%. traders are betting australia a 60% possibility the rba will cut rates to 2%. you get that nice boost from china cut in rates over the weekend, but it has been buttressed by the fact the reserve bank of australia comes tomorrow. the aussie dollar down. the dollar is higher, and the yen is falling and the dollar is rising by an eight this morning. it is a question of draghi

versus corona -- karoda in the yen market. you have traders upping their bed. -- bet. they cut the yen. that's it. >> the top stories this hour. a big deal in the semiconductor industry. both companies are big in supplying chips for cars. they benefited from the increasing sophistication of electronics in vehicles. it's the start of a new era for singapore's state-owned investment company. the investing strategy will have to include more liquid assets. that's after singapore's government opened up the option to draw more funds from the

company. terminated second against utility is going ahead with the sale of its oil and gas unit. rwe would take the unit back if the eu or u.s. imposed sanctions on the buyer within the year of the completion of the deal. >> the man who lifted the lid alleges management was aware of lax controls at its swiss bank. let's bring in friends we in -- francine lacqua. a great story. you have tracked him down, and you get to him. where did this begin? >> we have a long conversation. it was about an hour long. he talked about the list he leaked. he talked about his day to day life.

what jumped out at me was when he said he could prove hsbc management new of the attacks -- knew of the attacks. >> top management is aware of the problem that was faced. i am surprised top management are not trying to know what it is about. they didn't even try to get inside that. they didn't get their own way to receive information. >> he did actually declined to identify bank executives. he also declined to describe his evidence, only that his firm

have logical proof. what is logical proof? we don't know. we can only speculate. it could be where the software was made or the way the accounts were set up, but it's per -- it's pure speculation. >> how has hsbc responded? >> they declined to comment on the earlier statements. this is the findings of the body that does this. and the advertisement, the hsbc issued its apologies. the unit had been identified. that had been going on for some time. >> these were taken record 2007. this is 2015. why are we suddenly aware of this?

>> this is one of the questions we are trying to get to the bottom of. we know that he passed it on to authorities in france in 2010. french authorities alerted. the question is why has nothing been done about it? it's only recently hsbc has been under scrutiny because of the report a couple weeks ago. five he spoke about his life. is he on the run? >> he won't divulge where he is. he has to move around. he doesn't have a basis. back in december the swiss attorney general indicted him. i asked would he ever return to switzerland to fight the charges. he says he is often in touch with swiss politicians, so he kept it open. >> we are fighting to have this chance to go there and really

expose the crude reality of all that. >> one of the questions one has to ask is, jesus bc -- is how much hsbc knew about that. the swiss say this was stolen data so they can act on it. following the report in january, prosecutors have taken action, actually searching the offices on february 18. we know he is moving around europe. >> what you think of more leaks to come? >> he suggested there is plenty of information that is likely to come out of hsbc. i tried to get it out of him. he said he doesn't want to talk about it right now, because he calls on law enforcement agent is first to have a dialogue to try to find a solution. he says if no solution is found he will alert the public to

other data he has. >> well done. join us on twitter. we are tweeting. francine is at -- >> lacqua with the c. >> is druggy outflanking corona -- draghi outflanking karoda.? -- kuroda? ♪

>> time for today's bar chart. is dr draghi outflanking kuroda? it's a question definitely worth asking as the ecb prepares to start its qe program this month. this is the euro yen chart over the last 12 month. after the euro peaked at 1.49 23, that's the green circle right there with its highest level since september, 2008 -- it has since dropped a further 10% against the yen to 1.3 396. that's in three months. there could be further declines to come. that's on a weaker euro by hedge funds and other large regulations last month succeeded

there is wages by the most since october -- bearish wages by the most since october of 2012. a break through this level right here -- that's the red circle. another factor that could push the euro lower, is speculation the bank of japan is done expanding its pace of qe. he says the euro will win the race to the bottom while the promise of qe puts the euro under pressure. there is less pressure on the boj to provide further amulets. for those -- further stimulus. for those who think the ecb is already factored in, chris turner, head of ing group, which is the most accurate forecaster in the 2014 bloomberg rankings

-- he has this to say. although some of the market say it is riced in, what i believe is the current the does need to fall. -- it is priced in, what i believe is the currency does need to fall. the boj could surprise the markets by beating up its own stimulus, even though governor kuroda did say he sees no immediate need to add to the program. he has says -- said he is ready to raise that if necessary. the median forecast is for the euro to rise to ¥1.36. among the most bullishb,ba -- among the most bullish, bba.

the euro has a long way to go to underline some of its rights versus the yen in the last rears. is draghi outflanking kuroda? >> credit suisse really saving its profits. this is just is after the justice department fined morgan stanley. switzerland's second-biggest enck reduced its fourth-quarter profit to 25%. berkshire hathaway said fourth-quarter profit slipped 17% to $4.1 billion after investment gain narrowed. buffett said the board has the right person to replace him and the new ceo will be chosen internally. france's largest phone company is interested in a potential combination with telephone italiana.

that telecom italia. he told one shred -- french journal this could be a great opportunity for european consolidation. be sure to tune in tomorrow. we will bring an exquisite interview with the orange ceo himself from the world congress. >> less than 30 minutes to go until the start of european trading. our next guest inks the euro dollar is still in a downward trend. the bar chart is to is going to win the currency war. they would say officially. >> the spillover. >> is it fair to say druggy has the edge right now -- draghi has the edge right now? >> i think what matters is the market. japan started quantitative

easing a couple years ago, so any new addition to that is not really news. europe is just starting. that is the change. europe is winning at the moment. if you look at bond yields, it's hard to beat germany. in fact interest rate yields in japan have been going back up. >> one of the great debates is you're going to see and hear the details of qe. it hasn't even started. switzerland is issuing negative yields in terms of corporate debt. where does the trade take us? is it euro-dollar? get ready to induce yourself with huge trade. where would you look for the way forward in qe land? >> i think he basically hates every currency except the dollar.

many of the countries are doing some measure of either cutting interest rates or embarking on quantitative easing. the countries that are not are the u.s. and the u.k. so those are probably the currencies that are going to rally. we have got a lot of funding currencies but what do you fun with them? -- fund with them? the euro is not moving as rapidly as some other current these. you can sell the euro -- the yen is not where the changes right now. i think six months from now things may be different. you mentioned kuroda's statement. at this moment we are not planning to do anything. >> it could surprise you like in october. >> of the marginal change from 80 trillion to 90 trillion.

>> has greece been put to bed for now? they have until the end of april to submit concrete evidence. >> people are worried about how they are going to fund redemptions coming in the next week or two. this hasn't disappeared by any means. they kicked the can down the road, but it seems to be a short road. >> we are going to come back to you in the second. stay with us. ♪

>> minutes to go before the start of the trading week. the head of global strategy. what a week. we have the reserve bank of australia tomorrow. we have the ecb details on thursday and the jobs report on friday, and we have got time -- china. they cut rates over the weekend. what is the landscape do for your division -- what does the landscape do for your division? >> they want to prioritize reform instead of growth. they have revised down the growth targets and the money supply targets. that means slower growth in china is translatable into a weaker australian dollar and a weaker new zealand dollar weaker commodities all around.

it's crucial for the global commodities. >> does that mean we get a rate cut i the rba? -- by the rba? >> they move from rabbit -- the move from private investment has been very disappointed. people were hoping a the non-mining sector would take over. they have to make it attractive for companies to invest. it is a crucial point for them. they have other measures to take care of the house prices, so that isn't a worry. >> one of my pet subjects is the u.k. sterling had the best start on a trade rated basis since 2009, up for the fifth week. a seven-year high against the euro. it would not -- will it last? >> i think we could take a lesson for what happened last

year ahead of the scottish lessons. sterling was very strong. there is an election going on. then sterling got hit. as we get closer to make, people are going to start looking at the possible results of the election. -- closer to may people are going to start looking at the possible results of the election. >> who is going to start raising rates first? what's i think the fed. i think they will be hesitant to do it. september looks likely for the fed. >> going back to china, the one other article i read this morning, which is they cut rates over the weekend. there is no way they are going to let the currency go much lower than it is at the moment. we're at a two-year low. would you concur with that view?

it is lowering rates and moving on the currency as well. >> if you look at what is happening to other countries, they are suffering from the rise of the dollar. the renminbi is tagged -- quasi pegged to the dollar. it is a double hit to growth. they aren't targeting growth anymore, but they have to be sensitive to this problem. i think they could let the renminbi weaken further against the dollar. it is gaining on a trade weighted basis to spite the fall against the dollar. >> have you gotten over the shock of being a swiss national bank. >> as somebody paid in euros and whose wife was in switzerland this was a real shock to me. two days before they said this was the pillar of our economic policy.

it makes one wonder about the promises of all central banks, how much we can trust them. it shows the huge forces at work. >> swiss prank is at 1.06. -- the swiss franc is at 1.6. >> i think there was a big shock. there was a massive one-way positioning in the swiss franc. that is being worked out. i think the swiss franc will weaken further. >> we have had of you there will be more rate cuts to come from the indians. what do you think on the rupee? but i think their situation has improved a lot as ashley oil. lower oil prices was a big benefits for them combined with lower interest rates. i think they are going to do very well. the currency should hold up i would say. like eggs so much for coming -- >> thanks so much for coming.

>> we're going to be talking to the ceo of alcatel lucent. stay tuned. ♪

>> good morning and welcome. i am michael farrelllet's get straight to the morning brief. tens of thousands marched through the capital. the biggest show of support for russian opposition. china battles location -- lowf lation. consumer prices rise at the lowest rate in five years. the greek government is due to implement measures as the

finance minister raises concerns about money to the ecb. the things we will be watching i am looking at futures market a little higher. dax futures up by 20 points. another week of gains for the german equity benchmark. how are we going to open the week? >> not to be left out of the game. that is the secret. it was the biggest weekly inflow on record. $11 billion into europe. $3 trillion have gone into global equities since the start of the year. profitability for equities, it will give you about 6.4%. that is 11 times what sovereign government bonds will give you. why wouldn't you have equities would be the overall argument. china cut the benc