anna: the man with the plan. bracing for an emergency summit in brussels after presenting new measures that could decide his nation's future in the euro. tiling up a deal. patrick drahey is making a move that would consolidate the french telecom market. $147 billion is in enough, cigna rejects the u.s. health insurance agency preparing for an m&a wave. welcome to "countdown."

it's 6:00 here in london and this is monday morning. plenty of m&a to talk about as we go through the show. the headline is that the french billion aire -- but let's start with the euro and the latest on the greek story. the man with the plan has presented a new plan to his creditors ahead of the emergency summit today. what is happening to the single currency as a result? we have the euro against the dollar, and you can see that it has been climbing just a little bit. at doesn't look much like a currency having an existential crisis. is it to do with greece, fed policy, the bond market? the reaction around the currency market has been a little bit of relief coming through as a result of the new plan.

plenty of voices to hear from during the program today. let's talk about the guest coming up -- the independent mp to join us. then we will's week with the former president, and exclusive conversation later on in the program. it's two minutes past 6:00. is agree is a sideshow for global markets? that is the question we are asking this morning. this comes after j.p. morgan said that the greek exit is a drama for greece but not the world market. how would you contextualize what we have seen coming through from greece over the weekend? how would you contextualize the greek story and the impact for global markets? the great prime minister has devised a new plan to stave off an emergency summit that could decide the nation's future in the euro. let's get the perspective from brussels, from hans nichols.

good to see you. what do we know about the new plan? hans: good morning. according to an official, it is "a good basis for progress to start these discussions." they will begin at 12:30, then going to the full leaders summit later on this evening. that same official described them as "birth by forceps," suggesting a difficult process. they will need a midwife if there is any prospect for a deal. he spoke to his counterparts in france in germany with francois hollande and chancellor merkel. here's what we know in terms of the details, according to greek officials. it will have a tax levy on companies that make more than half a million euros in revenue. that will be a solidarity level -- there will be a solidarity level for people earning 30,000

euros or more, and three bands of vat rates. there may be an elimination of some early retirement starting next year on the pension side of things but in some ways, what we know about this plan -- what is more important what we don't know. you don't know what it will do for market reform, to the overall tensions and we also don't know what they will do to the primary budget surplus. the seven members we have been seeing going back and forth -- it is a document, it seems as though it has been officially accepted by the european union and now the question is what sort of tweaks will be made. anna: hans birth by forceps -- a very vivid illustration of what is needed to get this deal done. what do we know about miracles thinking on this -- on merkel's

thinking on this? hans: according to someone familiar with it she may be overestimating her own desire to see greece in the euro. there are some who say that she will do with average it takes in the public rhetoric is heading in that direction. we have a story out of berlin saying that there may be overestimation. also there is a number on the german side -- that a greek default would hit germany at about one billion euros per year. that is a pretty small number. the idea that germany will bend over backwards to keep them in -- it looks like chancellor merkel will go halfway but not much further. anna: thank you very much. obstacles in brussels. -- hans nichols in brussels. five minutes last 6:00. we will have more on the greek story throughout the day

including a special program. don't miss that. let's think about what's happening in the ancient markets. investors in asia are setting aside concerns with -- david inglis is standing by in hong kong to give us an update. the euro doesn't look like a currency and existential crisis. asian equity markets are in the green behind you -- what is happening in the markets today as you seen it? david: good morning. let me break this down. as he related to, -- as you alluded to, you put all this together, five hours into the trading session this is the

best day in two months. but if you look below the surface, volumes are quite light. they are coming up week in asia where we see a massive amount of outgrowth. there is something of a weekly drop. there is perhaps a waiting on development. japan, a heavily weighted market, is up 1%, down to a few stocks. one company makes up about a 10th of that index. games today make up a third of that 1%. headline is were doing well but volumes are quite lacking. perhaps we are also waiting to see what happens in china. markets on the chinese mainland -- they are coming off that her rent is 13% drop will we get a technical bounce?

me move things along -- mostly what we are seeing is that bond yields are going back up but relative to where we were last week, we are at 43. australia is at 290. australia is about 3% and we were north of 54. yields are coming back up, but certainly nowhere near levels of last year. back to you. anna: thank you very much. eight minutes past 6:00 on monday morning. let's focus in on what's going on after the break. we will be talking about mobile and m&a. patrick draghi is said to have made a move to's get a telecom company. ♪

anna: welcome back. live in that is past 6:00 here in london. hero stories you need to know. cigna has rejected a $47 billion takeover from anthem saying it was inadequate and not in the best interest of shareholders. cigna added that its rival is facing a number of major issues including a lack of road strategy -- of growth strategy. it would have been the biggest takeover in the health insurance industry. patrick drahi could spent 10 billion euros to acquire one of the largest european mobile phone companies.

the board is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the proposal. greases prime minister is in brussels today following an offer to eu leaders that he described as a definitive solution. euro area leaders will hold an emergency summit with him from 6:00 u.k. time after the finance ministers failed to reach an agreement on terms for unlocking and 80 deal -- an aide deal. there was a peaceful rally in front of the parliament in athens. let's talk about the greek story a little bit more. guy johnson is standing by on the ground in athens and can bring us up to date with the situation. the situation regarding the bank -- good morning. guy: good morning. very rainy in athens this morning, but that banks are opening as normal. as a question on everybody's lips is will that be the case

tomorrow? we understand that there were significant new orders for deposit withdrawals. how much liquidity do these banks have? we have an emergency meeting of the ecb friday to raise the ela. another is taking place today to talk about further improvements. that is the story we are watching carefully, the barometer of how this whole process is going. we will watch that story throughout the morning. we don't know how much money will be taken out and how much money the ecb will provide, but that seems to be the key limit. the proposals of what is happening in brussels is the banking system that seems to be pivotal. anna: with that in mind, what happens in frankfurt?

talking about those brussels conversations, we had a little bit from hans about what's it burress is proposing. what are they offering this time around? guy: the details -- it looks like we will see some changes in early retirement. that may be enough to convince the creditors that we are going to see reforms to the pension system. plus, a tax on large companies which could he staggered -- which could be staggered, and someone rich individuals in greece. the barrier could be just 30,000 euros a year, so fairly low level but that may be enough to convince creditors that they are serious about changing the nature of the tax system to really important things. there was a big meeting last night. we haven't had the full details and there has been no briefing. yanis varoufakis exited and we

asked him some questions through his crash helmet about how positive the meeting had been. >> i'm not going to do a press conference. guy: hard to interview someone through a helmet. we will wait and see. we will get a sense from them -- what do they know about this plan? are they happy about this plan? is the coalition going to hold together? so many questions, so many answers required -- we will try and get some of them. anna: thank you. guy johnson in athens. increasing tax rates has been described as a redline by the greek government so far. so just how heavy is the tax burden on struggling business owners?

we spent an afternoon at a neighborhood restaurant in athens to find out. >> it would -- it is 70%, and the security money [indiscernible] we paid an average of 5500 per month. the taxes make it look expensive. everything else went up the last year from vegetables, meat meals, anything. about half of his salary pays for social security. 30 euros a day, and he must pay 45.

the employee doesn't have any social security, they don't have any security, they have nothing. see what happened to them in the last five years, people are going to think you report from iraq. the politicians in greece, and also the politicians in brussels, they don't understand the impact that is going to be on businesses like mine. it's a catastrophe as it is. i'm scared because they don't understand what is happening. i'm scared because they have no idea. anna: let's get more on the wider implications of the greek story today. we are joined by bank of america merrill lynch chair here in the studio, and had a strategy. good to see you.

clearly, the personal turmoil is very clearly shown. let's take a step back and talk about how this is playing out more broadly. you try distinction in your research between the urgency and importance -- help contextualize what we are seeing from greece. >> in the case so far greece -- it is going to be a very long day. even if we get some kind of an agreement, it would be in agreement on the steps in the next few days but so far they have not been driven by the developments in greece. last week, the euro was strengthening -- anna: it doesn't look like a crisis. that doesn't look at the

currency having an extension crisis. athanasios: all of the headlines from greece are important in the short-term. and the big scheme of things they have not affected markets. they are very dovish. [indiscernible] this doesn't mean -- so far, the markets have ignored it. anna: you said you are puzzled by the market by the ecb policy reactions they laid out. what does that mean? what about the ecb? what our markets ignoring? athanasios: so far, they have tried to push against any market expectations. draghi has been emphasizing that they may do more if necessary but if the market

would not react to volatility the stake -- the ecb is not dovish enough. the ecb may not care about volatility however, it would have further tightening of monetary conditions and the ecb will react. anna: help us to work out what we should expect in terms of the meetings we have taking place. you suggest that today's meeting -- if you had your highest hopes for today's meeting, wouldn't it just be a roadmap toward a deal? athanasios: exactly. so for the problems have been that the two sides have not been -- if there is a success today it will be because of an understanding. index that's will be the technical discussions to finalize all the details and make sure they add up for the

greeks to approve a number of measures. for the greek side to be able to agree and for the greek parliament to be able to approve it, it will be very important to get something on this relief. the extent to which the europeans -- will determine the chances of being approved. anna: so that'sdebt relief is not off the table. the greeks have said it must be part of the deal. athanasios: it is important for them to approve their popular measures, and without it there is a discussion of the conditions -- in terms of more time to regain the loans.

it would be a very important step. anna: you also mentioned in the past the great territory. if the creditors are trying to get to a situation where greece is enforced to be called into a default, they could have a great territory or there is a default but it could not be a default. athanasios: some people believe that the default -- even if [indiscernible] this would be a negative scenario. even after a default, we aren't going to have a gray scenario overnight. as long as greece is able to pay pensions and wages, -- this is not a sustainable situation but it can go on for a few months. anna: what are the important

venues to watch in terms of the banking sector? doing keep an eye on brussels or frankfurt? athanasios: both are very important. i think brussels might be more important because so far the ecb -- [indiscernible] if there is no agreement soon, there is a risk that the greek banks -[indiscernible] anna: thank you very much for joining us this morning. 24 minutes past the hour. patrick drahi is said to have made a multibillion euro telecom unit. here with more on the consolidation is caroline hyde. good morning. caroline: after months of speculation bloomberg has been writing for months whether patrick drahi will buy up the

telecom. he will be offering over 10 billion euros. he would merge it with his own area numericable, one of the four key telecom players. he wants to buy it and get some 30 million subscribers. bougues are set to discuss this on june 23. of course, we see a speed up and why he has been eyeing up this asset. that has been months since i have been having informal talks -- why then are we seeing a flurry of action? it is because of concerns that it could get a bit more costly. greek market volatility -- could

that drive up costs or a rate rise? we've been thinking about when that would happen in the united states. if interest rates rise everything becomes a little bit more costly. we do know that he has been on the mna merry-go-round looking at u.s. assets and cable companies. now he is focusing his attention back in europe, to expand the empire across france, the caribbean. what are the regulatory hurdles? there are a couple. we have to inc. that it comes down to three providers. iliad will also be taking on some asset to help he's monetary issues, but macron was worried the eu is getting tougher. anna: thank you. coming up, world leaders meet to

seal a final deal in the iranian nuclear program. we will bring you the latest after the break. ♪

anna: welcome back. 6:30 in london. let's have a look at the 40 exchange markets. this is the picture across the area. it doesn't look much like a currency having a crisis. we have seen moments where the currency has retrenched against the dollar, but in general, it has added, and is now around the 113.94 mark. a bit of a move higher as the latest developments are digested in asia.

jpmorgan suggested that the greek crisis is a crisis in greece, but not for the global market. how much of a contagion effect could be expected or not expected this time around as opposed to last time we had a greek crisis? so far it seems to be pretty well contained and we aren't seeing that level of fear. let's take a look at some of the top stories. turned speed has become the youngest player to win the u.s. open since bobby jones in 1923. he shot a one under par 69 during the final round to finish five under.

in 16 events since february, there have been 10 top 10 finishes and $7.8 million in winnings. apple music is to change its plans and will now pay royalties to artists during its three month free trial. this comes after taylor swift: her latest album from the music streaming web service, saying that three months is a long time to go unpaid. she says she is elated and relieved by the changenges. the greek prime minister is in brussels today, meeting with eu leaders. they will hold an emergency summit from 6:00 u.k. time. after ministers failed to reach an agreement for unlocking and eight deal. -- an aide deal.

there was a peaceful rally in front of the parliament of athens. let's talk more about the greek story -- how is the situation in greece affecting business and the rest of europe? we asked the ceo of the italian clothing company what it means for business. >> the greek market -- [indiscernible] what could impact the general mood of the stock exchange in the financial market. i think there might be a solution, [indiscernible] anna: that is the corporate side

of the greek story. let's talk about the macro side, the market reaction. we are joined by michael o'sullivan. good morning. we have seen the negotiations become increasingly bad tempered in the weeks leading up to this. what have we learned? if we sit back and look at what we have learned so far about the way europe operates -- what are we learning? micheal: as you say, the negotiations strike me as being much more like the run up to a big boxing match. a lot of brave talk. i think what we have learned in terms of what the greek wants -- amidst all the noise -- there are packages proposals going to and fro. in terms of how europe works, it worries me a little bit more the kids this is a relatively

minor issue in the broad scheme of things. it points to the fact that you're up still works in a relatively chaotic fashion. we could pinpoint a couple leaders -- merkel and maybe yo juncker -- but i personally feel it is not addressing the underlying problems, the design of the euro and one of the initial problems is when this crisis began four years ago, the common avenues of escape were cut off. debt restructuring, for example. when you do that, it is in this pressure cooker, and that is what happened. anna: at the same time jean-claude juncker is supposed to be presenting the proposals for europe, and included in that

is a suggestion that by 2025 there should be a eurozone treasury. it seems that we are putting in place the crucial infrastructure around a common monetary policy perhaps should have been there some time ago. micheal: i think what is most telling -- one man said that europe needs a crisis to move forward, and that is what we have seen. it is such a pity that the reform is at the eu level because they all talk about reform at the country level, and we have see very little at the eu level. the euro is still something -- it is still a work in progress. i think a lot needs to be done. national fiscal policies need to be flexible in the context of the common monetary policy. anna: we were talking earlier in the first half-hour of the program about the possibility of debt reduction.

you mentioned that the greeks have been saying for a long time that some sort of debt relief has to be on the card. is that at all on the agenda even just a promise of it in the future? is it going to be talked about after the deal? micheal: i think it is already being talked about. i think rather than outright debt reductions they will elongate the debt for example, from 2013, when we pushed it back to 2075. the absolute value of the debt stays the same but these institutions on have to take a right down -- a writedown. the value of the debt will be reduced. anna: is it a sideshow for global markets? micheal: i think they are. and if you can manage to

extricate yourself mentally from greece and looks at how it has underdeveloped, injured -- inter-developed we are in a situation in terms of economic history a typical early time of recovery. the u.s. is more advanced and we are finally getting that first rate increase in september. anna: stay with us. michael o'sullivan. he will stay with us for another 15 minutes or so. with the deadline for a deal on iran's nuclear program, they may have complicated matters by voting to prevent inspection. elliott gotkine has more for us. good to see you. how significant are these moves? elliott: this is just a

provisional vote by iranian lawmakers, and that it needs to be rectified by the guardian council, half of our appointed by the supreme later. -- leader. he could torpedo these negotiations at any point. he clearly wants a nuclear deal not at any cost. at the same time, it's worth remembering that when john kerry returns from those talks in vienna next week, we assume or hope that some deal will be done, and he will have to sell it to congress, or the chair of the senate foreign relations committee has already said that they should have anytime anywhere access. clearly, that would contradict somewhat with what iranian lawmakers are looking in to have in place. we shouldn't get carried away with what is going on right now, with this pressure on either

side, to try to ensure that they get less pressure on their own side so that any final deal is more to their liking. until it becomes an actual law, i wouldn't see it as any lawbreaker. anna: inspectors re are just one of the number of issues they will be discussing in vienna, is that right? elliott: that's right. the inspection issue is perhaps the key that unlocks some of the other issues. so when it comes to the need to look at the past perspective military dimension of the nuclear program, clearly they would need to have access to certain places where they suspect that these activities took place, and they may not be the nuclear sites. there might be other sites, military sites, or they need to

be managed. that there is the big one the arabians want sanctions lifted as soon as the deal is done. world powers want the sanctions lifted. only once and ran has verifiably abided by the commitments it makes in any nuclear deal. we are looking ahead to those talks in vienna the home to the international atomic energy agency. that deadline is june 3. but i think most people will expect there to be the same thing we had last time. anna: elliott, thank you very much. elliott gotkine, our middle east editor. we are tweeting this morning. we are asking this question --

is the greek drama a sideshow for global markets? we have had some views that suggest that it might this morning on the program. -- that is might be this morning on the program. coming up the greek prime minister heads to brussels and we had to ask to get the view of an mp from the independent greek party. ♪

anna: welcome back. 6:45 in london. here are the stories you need to know. cigna has rejected a $47 billion takeover bid from larger rival and them saying it was inadequate and not in the best interest of shareholders. six added that the rival was facing a number of major issues including a lack of growth

strategy. could deal would have been the biggest takeover ever in the u.s. health insurance industry. after try he made an offer a 10 billion euros to acquire the third-largest mobilephone company in france, according to people with knowledge of the matter. it would emerge greek telecom with his cable and wireless provider. the board is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the proposal. greece's prime minister is in brussels today following an offer to eu leaders that he described as a "definitive solution." area leaders will hold an emergency summit from 6:00 this evening u.k. time. after finance failed to agree on terms for unlocking an aide deal. demonstrators held a peaceful rally in athens. let's head out to athens now

and join guy johnson. guy? guy: welcome back to athens. were trying to get a sense of what is happening here. this is an mp for the independent coalition let's find out exactly what we need to know. good morning. >> good morning. guy: have you been briefed on the deal? >> no, not yet. we don't have any information. guy: do we know whether pensions are on the table? . there are so many red lines >> some might be on the table. regarding the pensions -- [indiscernible]

guy: what about an increase in taxation on large companies? this concerns about 10,000 different companies. the annual income will be more or less than a million. guy: do you get a sense that the government -- clearly, they are going to brussels to try and get a deal. how many red lines still remain? >> there is a lot open for discussion but clearly our government is clearly on the move. we want a deal, and we are discussing -- we're back stepping on the red lines. this is for the first time after

five years where we have tough blood in the negotiations. this is something very difficult, and we think this will be a good outcome for all parties. the european banks --[indiscernible] what i am saying is only the greek debt is dangerous to everybody. since we transferred illegally the debt from the market, it is completely legal. it is -- guy: is debt restructuring -- is

that going to happen? do you expect it to be part of the deal in brussels? >> this is a condition we will put on the table. because we aren't talking about -- [indiscernible] we have three kinds of debt -- the intergovernmental debt [indiscernible] we need to build the three kinds of debt. guy: what happens if a deal is done today? if it keeps the situation at least intact at this stage? is greece going to need further restructuring down the road?

give us a more long-term story. >> that will depend on the debt restructuring. the financial needs for country like greece are predictable, so we change and we own money to the europeans and the imf, so we work with them to find money to repay them. we are trying to find money out of the markets to pay the old debt [indiscernible] in order to relieve the burden -- added to that the growth factor so this will increase the denominator. this is the most important.

guy: one final questionguy:. the central bank issued a statement last week -- is the government's central bank saying i-4 and i at this stage -- eye for an eye at this stage? >> a banker is always a banker. i was a former investment banker. . they have a specific way of explaining things i don't blame him. he said what he needed to say. politicians do not always understand -- they think a political solution can resolve anything. [indiscernible] 80% of those were either bonds

or [indiscernible] they charged interest, which was kind of illegal. we need to put everything on the table and i don't blame the government, because there needs to be an understanding. guy: thank you very much. back to you. anna: thank you very much. plenty more from guy throughout the day. we have a special program coming up at 10:00 u.k. time. 6:50 3 -- let's bring in tim coulter. michael sullivan is still with us. let's stick with greece -- one of the stories you brought to our attention was advice from the prime minister. tim: it was a very smart story -- this was the only euro area

banker that had any experience. we called him and asked him -- what is your advice? what should greece still -- what should greece do? it became a turning cap on the economy and it was -- micheal: one of the things he said in the interview was that they would have to be formally imposed by the government. what sort of social and political fallout do you think there will be? tim: obviously, they would have to be significant, wouldn't they? we had a really interesting piece -- a video of people stashing tens of thousands of euros hiding them behind the radiator, anywhere you can imagine. people are preparing for this. anna: you were telling us last

week that businesses have already prepared, to some extent. the businesses we were covering last week who for so many years have planning to keep a lot of their money outside greek banks, where wouldn't be subject. tim: exactly right. we talked to a lot of companies saying -- what are you doing? are you preparing? some said they had been ready for this since 2012. they wanted to get as much money out of the country as possible. anna:. but something else you have on the website -- auction wars. we will be speaking to stephanie baker little bit later. who is coming out the best? tim: these auction houses have been battling for centuries. but it looks like in the current environment it is really killing it. the main example is something

like, over four days they sold $1.7 billion worth of art. now that they both have new ceos it is time to get more competitive. micheal: they are both winning with numbers like that. is there any sense that they are reducing their margins because they are both very healthy margins in the option. -- in the auctions. is that settling down -- anna: it has come under fire from activist investors. tim: actually, one of the things they address is that very fact. the auction house had suffered from guaranteed prices to sellers. the market wasn't healthy enough, and they were literally

losing money. anna: thank you very much. more on both as we go through the program. 6:56 in london. coming up, more of a conversation about brussels and athens. ♪

anna: the man with the plan, tsipras braces for an emergency meeting with creditors in brussels. it could decide his nation's future in the euro. patrick drahi is said to bid 10 billion euros for french telecom in a move that would consolidate the market. $4 billion is not enough. cigna rejects a takeover bid from anthem. welcome to "countdown."

i am anna edwards. it has just gone to 8:00 in brussels. perhaps that is where you are watching from if you are one of the european leaders at the summit. much more on what we know and do not know as we go through the program. this is how the euro is performing. this is the euro against the dollar. not even making gains over the last month. 1.14 is where we are now. a lot of questions about what is driving that. is this to do with greece or fed policy or the bond market? a lot of exes then shall questions right now would be what you can take from that chart. some of the key voices we will hear from during the program. former cyprus president will join us for an exclusive

conversation. many insights can be gained from what is happening in cyprus. that country has instigated capital controls at the height of their crisis. but can the former president of cyprus add to that? is the greek drama a sideshow for global markets? it might be very real in athens. as jpmorgan suggested it could not -- it could be a sideshow for global markets. two minutes after 7:00 in london. the president of cyprus has introduced another plan. joining us now for more insight, hans nichols is in brussels. let's continue with the conversation on what is going to happen in brussels today. we have guy johnson on the ground in athens as well.

what do we know about that plan? hans: the finance ministers said that the talks are quality and the deal needs to be durable and global. positive comments. another official said something similar. this proposal from athens is a good basis for progress. he also said that a deal would have to use forceps for that. he used the german turn. how you are going to midwife the deal, how you are going to bring it front and center. mr. holland as well as meta-merkel, there will be a host of meetings today -- madame merkel there will be a host of meetings today. there will be a solitary tax for people earning 30,000 euros or more. there will be three bands of

that with the highest at 23%. there may be limitations on retirement options. it looks like pension payments they will look to trim those about 0.5% of gdp. it does not look like they are that -- moving that much on the pension front. he made it seem like it was all up to merkel. the ball was in merkel's court. he said that she had a decision to make. every time you hear that it is the greeks being up to germany for a decision to be made, that does that seem like a great grounds for progress. we have to weigh those things against each other. anna: what do we know about angela merkel's thinking? german politicians are seeking to stop emergency liquidity assistance for greek banks. what about where angela merkel

is coming from now? hans: according to someone familiar with her thinking, the greeks may be a little bit too optimistic about her willingness to make a deal. we have not confirmed the report , the idea that germans want to cut off emergency liquidity. when you look at the bank president that is on the council of the ecb, this is what he has been saying all along. the ecb should not be providing financing to the greek state. it is not surprising they are trying to do this. the bigger question is, do they have the ability to do so? you need a two thirds majority to change anything. anna: thank you very much. hans nichols with the latest coming out of russell's. guy is there for us. let's start with the banking

situation. are the banks open yet? guy: the banks are open. the shutters came up about an hour ago. we understand over the weekend that significant orders were replaced for deposit withdrawal. that is what the ela is there for. this emergency liquidity assistance is designed to replace them. we get another week like last week, that ela is going to have to go up. he said that he will be on this call. he is the governor of the central bank. he is -- his understanding was that they were not going to be talking about the ela. they get talked about every wednesday. there is the possibility of emergency action being taken to augment the emergency action

liquidity that is already in existence. we will see how the day progresses. it probably will not take the greek banks that far with their ability to manage that liquidity story. we are watching very, very carefully to see how the story works its way through. the governing council are coming together to talk about what is happening with the greek banks. this may be a little bit more likely. they are going to be briefed on the plan that the greeks have going forward. the governing council will probably breach on that. the liquidity story is absolutely front and center. if the ecb decides to deny the greek banks access to liquidity game over, job done. the story in brussels is important. the story in frankfurt is just

as important. anna: thank you very much. guy johnson in athens with the very latest on the greek story. stay with bloomberg. we will have the latest on the greek story. midday if you're watching in athens. "the greek dilemma" a special program coming to you. a breakthrough in the french telecom sector. let's get to caroline. >> it has been confirmed that the billionaire that owns one of the four key telecom giants in france has confirmed that they are making an offer. if you come into the screen here, they are a conglomerate. they are a construction company. they make up about 13% of their sales revenue. it is 4.4 billion euros is what

they have wrought for -- brought for bouygues. an important unit for the conglomerate. we reported it back in february. we understand that it could be 10 billion euros. according to the statement we put out earlier, we have no price point. they are and ask -- in exclusive talks with one of the other key telecom players in france to resell some assets. they need to dispose of some assets and get the a-ok from regulators. you are looking at the share price reaction later today. this could rise higher on the back of this m&a news. anna: let's get back to our

guest, michael sullivan. he has been with us for the last 14 minutes. let's talk about your investments. the telecom sector is very couple -- topical with the story we are hearing about. it would take the number of players in the french telecom global market from four to three . michael: there are three aspects of this. one is the french aspect where you have a relatively new player going against the established players. in france, it is causing quite some eruptions. the french government said that the time was not quite right for this to happen. anna: it sounded like some regulatory hurdles, didn't it? michael: we are seeing the

reshaping of european telecoms. maybe the third shaping since the late 1990's. roaming costs being reduced. globally, we have the same thing going on. in an m&a trend, it is quite interesting. you look at the impact of valuations, things are getting pretty hot. the early 2000's lurks in the back of my mind with the amount of debt being deployed in these big deals. you forget about greece, europe is growing. interest rates begin to rise. anna: forget about greece, as if. you went neutral and european equities back in april, didn't you? is it because the tensions with the greece adding have come down

a little bit? you see them as a little bit more attractive? michael: there are two things to look at from an investment point of view. we have gone overweight europe. you look at our fundamental risk analysis in terms of volatility and european markets. they are much more stressed than the u.s. valuations look a little bit easier now. earnings are beginning to pick up. do not forget about qe. it is still having quite an impact on european markets. europe begins to look attractive again. then the second part, this is what will grip a lot of investors today and tomorrow. how do you delve through all of the noise of greece? you make a judgment call on what is going to happen. for us, it is much more about

timing. maybe a little bit more gradually than we might normally do. you have to go through the process and go with the analysis. anna: thank you. 12 minutes past 7:00. european leaders are likely to continue sanctions against russia later today. we will get the view of britain 's former ambassador to russia.

anna: welcome back, everybody. 16 minutes past 8:00 in frankfurt. here are some of the top stories. the greek prime minister is in brussels following an offer to eu leaders that he called a definitive solution to the debt crisis.

after finance ministers failed to reach an agreement on terms for unlocking an aid deal for greece, demonstrators held a peaceful rally in front of parliament last night. they have rejected a takeover big for -- bid from anthem. cigna noted that their rival was facing a number of issues including a lack of a growth strategy. this would have been the biggest takeover ever in the u.s. health insurance industry. billionaire patrick drahi made an offer of over $10 billion to acquire the largest telecom company. they would merge bouygues telecom. bouygues' board is expected to

meet tomorrow. they are saying that no commute -- negotiations are currently under progress. the offer was unsolicited. european finance ministers are expected to agree to a six-month extension of sanctions against russia. the ceo of a designer clothing company montclair said that russian customers are not spending. >> travelers from russia. it is a big part of the business. in russia it's ok. in the last six or eight months russia is not good at all. anna: let's get a perspective on this corporate stand. my next guest is a former ambassador to russia. andrew would, a member of a think tank.

michael o'sullivan of credits we's is still with us on set. evaluate the sanctions environment for us. do you expect it to be asked ended today? is it serving the purpose that the americans and the europeans want it to? >> it has not had the immediate effect to make hooton leave the ukraine. one proof of that is the eagerness of the russians to get rid of the sanctions. if they were not working, they were not care. anna: what damage do you think they have inflicted on russia? andrew: one is the immediate effect on the ability to raise credit. the fact that they remain a threat. if the russians try to extend their holdings in eastern

ukraine, there would be further sanctions. maybe in a couple of years they will be seen in retrospect to have had a significant effect on what i hope would be a changing russian attitude in ukraine. michael: we have had headline grabbing nato exercises in europe. you have had talk of the americans putting hard weaponry into the baltic states. do you think this would be viewed as a provocation by russia? andrew: it should be logically reviewed as a response, that a provocation. the russians have had large-scale exercises. they have done a lot to say that we are here. it is a response to that. that's a good way of feeding

into their propaganda. anna: what do you think the russians would like to see in the ukraine now? is it sustainable from a russian perspective? andrew: i do not think so. i think they have overreached themselves. what do the russians want? that is one thing. what putin wants is another thing. i do not think it is clear except i want to dominate the ukraine. it is a form of anarchy in the ukraine which does not serve russia's interest at all. anna: does this come down to the often cited playbook that instability on russia's borders help to boost putin's popularity? andrew: his regime depends as much on exaggerated hatred tourism it does on prosperity. -- patriotism as it does on

prosperity. it decreases legitimacy. the remarks he made at the st. petersburg economic forum is that we are doing fine. gdp is declining. my way of making sure we're doing even better is to increase dimension, which is precisely the wrong formula. michael: where do you see russia evolving? do you see russia as more part of the asian block or european block? andrew: russia considers it sell part -- as its own pole. they would not be part of another block. there was never a time with the united states was the only arbiter of world destiny. if you are a russian, you tend to eat quite yourself to the united states. that is your natural analog

because that is what it was for so many years. that is also an illusion. trying to work out their destiny in the world, what they mean in the world they have not reached a satisfactory answer for themselves. anna: what do you make of the answer between greece and russia? will tsipras be happy with what he came back from st. petersburg with? to what end does greece play that russian card? andrew: so much joy, in the european theater, particularly over greece. if he thinks that russia can maintain greece in the style to which it is accustomed that is a dilution. if they want to disrupt european union decision making, that is a fair ploy for them to produce.

what they wish to do just to be provocative, if they think they can use that as a lever on brussels, he will do that. anna: the former british ambassador to brussels and associate fellow. 7:23 in london. let's talk about another conversation. we touched on it in the last hour. one of the longest adding rivalries in the redish world. the battle for the world's largest art market. so the bees have been fighting it out since they have been fighting -- since they were established. we will get the latest from stephanie baker. give us the blow-by-blow. as it sits at the moment between christie's and sotheby's. this rivalry goes back centuries, doesn't it?

>> you go back to the 1990's when the rivalry got so intense. the u.s. justice department brought charges against them and the chairman alfred spent 10 months in jail. today, the market is even more intense because the sheer amount of money on the table. the art market and art sales reached a record high of 51 million euros. -- billion eruros. christie's sold 1.7 billion dollars worth of art in just a day. with that amount of money on the table, the money is quite intense. michael: if you are a new player as an auction house, how are you going to break into this lucrative market? are there newcomers in this market? stephanie: that is one thing

where christie's has an edge on sotheby's. they push hard on their internet strategy and they pulled ahead of sotheby's in that regard. you still have the lips and bottoms. they are still way behind. new players in china where the new players are coming from. they are nipping at the big auction houses tales. anna: it does seem like the future is online. this is it for this industry. stephanie: you saw the new ceo of sotheby's. he said that we will be focusing on our internet strategy and drumming up new clients in asia. anna: thank you it is a great story. the credits we's -- credit suisse cio.

we are tweeting this morning. you can find me @edwardsnews. you can join us on twitter.

♪ ♪ ♪ get excited for the 1989 world tour with exclusive behind the scenes footage all of taylor swift's music videos interviews, and more. xfinity is the destination for all things taylor swift.

anna: welcome back. it is 7:30 in london. time for a look at the currency markets. this is what the euro has in doing against the u.s. dollar. it does not look like a currency in crisis. 1.1387 is where we are. this could have to do with the bond markets and the greek crisis and what the fed is or is not doing. despite all of the tensions surrounding greece, the euro has been gaining ground against the

u.s. dollar. jpmorgan said over the weekend that the greek crisis was a crisis for greece, but not global markets. there is quite a lot of agreement around the desk about that particular sentiment. how much contagion is there from greece and the rest of european assets? that is one of the key issues you have to wrestle with. we can look at the european bond markets that help to find that this morning. there is quite a lot of hope attached to early trading this morning. germany is up a little bit. yields on italian, spanish, and greek debt coming down. we might see something come out of this meeting in brussels. we are looking at that with some hope. perhaps that fits in with what we're seeing on the equity

markets as well. we are suggesting they will move higher on equity markets as well. we could be considerably higher in the french and the german markets in particular this morning if people look ahead to that brussels meeting and ask what could come out of it. we will get more updates on markets as we get towards the open of the session. 7:3 to in london. apple music is to change its planned and will now pay royalties to artists during its three-month free trial. they came after taylor swift pulled her album from the service. she said that three months is a long time to go unpaid. jordan spieth has become the youngest player to win the u.s. open since lobby jones. he shot a one under par 69.

february, he has 10 top 10 finishes and three victories. and offered to eu leaders that he described as a solution to his country's debt crisis. they will hold a summit with tsipras at 7:00 central european time. finance ministers failed to reach an agreement to unlock an aid fdeal for greece. there was a peaceful demonstration before parliament in athens last night. we are joined for an exclusive interview with the former president of cyprus george vassiliou who can no doubt share some insight from the cyrian perspective. good to have you on the program. what advice would you have for the greek government? guy: --george: i do not think

they will take my advice. i expect that there will be an agreement. i think that prime minister tsipras has negotiated for a long time. he cannot complicate lot. probably not all that he wanted. he has to come to an agreement. essentially that means that he has to convince his counterparts in the european union that he is ready to carry out the reforms necessary and that he will be, not simply willing, but to have willing partners. the time for negotiations is over. now is the time for action. anna: do you think everything should be done to avoid capital controls? should they be avoided? george: i will tell you what is

more important. capital controls is not the big problem. in greece, there are a lot of voices. we cannot be blackmailed. if necessary, we will go out of the euro. that is really impossible to hear. at this moment, the prime minister is saying we don't want to reduce the pensions by even 5%. at the same time, they are saying we are going to jack ma which in case we will reduce them by 50%. you say we want to protect them from foreigners. at the same time, if they go to drachma they would sell at a discount to all those who have taken money away. you understand that this is an impossible slogan.

it's time now to stop that and go ahead with what is required. there will be no need for capital controls if that is the case. anna: you have experience negotiating with the creditor institutions. how powerful do you think the greek government is feeling to control their country's destiny? how much do they feel the destiny of their country is in their hands? george: the destiny of the country was always in their own hands. the question is how long can you threatened that if greece goes down, the whole of europe goes down? you cannot threaten europe. you are a part of europe. your future is closely knit with the future of europe.

that is why i say that there has been a lot of posturing. now is the time to come to the final agreement. anna: did cyprus ever consider not excepting the terms on the table from its creditors and taking a path that perhaps greece is considering now? did cyprus ever consider getting out of the eurozone and turning his back on the european union? george: no. as a matter of fact, it is not wise to compare cyprus with greece in that respect. what happened in cyprus, we do not have time to talk about it now. that's over. we never considered getting out of the eurozone or getting out of the euro. euro and cyprus is one and for a

ll. there was an agreement that was imposed on cyprus. we paid a high price. as you can see, we are already over that. cyprus is on its way to growth. anna: do you think we should see debt reductions for greece? should that be part of the deal? george: i believe that debt reductions are not the question for the moment. it may be a nice slogan. there is a debt reduction. nobody asked for anybody to repay money now. europe wants to be convinced that greece is ready to carry out the structural reforms necessary. the last five years, there were all kinds of promises by the governments. they left us promises, no

implementation. that is the difference between cyprus and greece. anna: thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate your time. it is 7:38 in london. at 10:00 u.k. time we will bring you a special on the greek situation. you will not want to miss that. that is the greek dilemma. we will have thoughts from here in the studio. plenty of coverage from across europe. what we can learn from other parts of europe. the cyprian experience is perhaps crucial to that. what happened in brussels and frankfurt. let's get a voice from the markets. allison mckay joins us onset. we started this hour by looking at some of the moods in the markets. it seems that people are feeling

a bit hopeful that some kind of deal can be done. >> when we look at the future indications of the european equity markets, it looks a little bit punchy. european equity markets still like the most attractive home out there. it is the cause of concern for equity investors. the quantitative easing process is still ticking away in the background. not getting as many headlines as it used to. there are people that have forgotten about it because of the volume of news coverage we are seeing about greece. it is ticking away in the background. monday morning, we will come back in and refocus ourselves a little bit as greece starts to show a little bit more willingness to implement the austerity requirements. anna: we will see the tales in cyprus's plans.

you mentioned how markets are looking at the greek story and getting over that. there has been a lot of sympathy around the desk for that view at j.p. morgan. that the greek situation is a sideshow for european markets. is that the view you are hearing a lot? it matters to greece and it matters to the greek people. in terms of the global market dynamics, it can be seen as a sideshow. alastair: it makes for a good story. it has all of the ingredients. across the board, for so many, as it applies to all greeks from top down. the greek economy accounts for less than 2% of the eurozone's economic output. it is a small percentage. the issues that have bubbled away, is it what to be the leading domino in other

countries leaving? there is a psychological battle that is being fought with the likes of germany and other founding members. there never was the mindset that any nation would want to leave. it has gotten more coverage than it otherwise would get. it has been quite a distraction. not necessarily as negative individual equity sectors might have been perceived. we are in the summer months. it is helping to cool enthusiasm and maybe stalled the trading mentality that we have seen so prevalent over the last 12-16 months. anna: it is something to talk about in the quiet summer months. we were showing the euro over a month a few moments ago. it does not look like a currency that is questioning its very existence. is that because what the ecb is doing is more important?

what is the reason for that? alastair: you have got to feel that the leading aspect has been the dollar side of the equation as opposed to the euro side of the equation. we went with the dollar, which was the interest rate side. that is cool as time has picked on. we focused on the european side of the equation. it has been a lateral move the last few weeks. there are a number of implications. sometimes we forget about it. the negative wage that greece brings to the euro is quite a benefit to many nations, germany notwithstanding. these export driven economies have benefited from the fact that they have driven down the cost of their goods and help them with exports. the asian sector is the biggest one that people have been aiming at. the flipside to this coin is

that there are issues with negativity and the bailouts that greece has required and will require for years to come. the benefit that they bring to it is that they d value the euro as a currency may be more than they should. anna: thank you very much. market strategist. mega m&a going on this monday. we will bring you the latest on the deals with the telecoms. 7:44 on monday morning. ♪

anna: welcome back. 7:47 in london. here are the stories that you need to know this morning read the greek prime minister is in brussels following an offer to eu leaders that he calls a definitive solution to the that crisis. -- debt crisis.

they will hold an emergency meeting with tsipras. finance ministers failed to reach a term for unlocking aid to greece. we saw a peaceful rally in front of the parliament in athens last night. cigna has rejected a takeover bid from the work -- larger rival anthem. he said that they were facing a number of issues including lack of a growth strategy. it would have been the biggest takeover ever in the u.s. health insurance industry. the cable and wireless unit have made an offer to acquire the third-largest mobilephone company in france bouygues. that has been confirmed this morning. bouygues has responded, saying the offer is unsolicited and no negotiations are in progress.

let's get more on both of those m and a stories. caroline hyde is here as well. let's talk a little bit about the health care and insurance m&a. is this the end of this story? >> i think it is just the beginning. from biotech to medical devices. it is under continuous explosion. it is just the beginning, now coming to insurers. they are under tremendous pressure to continue profitability and they need to consolidate. even though cigna rejected, i think it is just the beginning. anna: so we could be on the verge of something bigger. let's talk about a sector where we have seen a lot of m&a. people have talked about this over the weekend.

the have confirmation the deal has been placed for bouygues telecom? caroline: patrick drahi, he is the ceo of the company that is one of the biggest players, they have made an offer for bouygues telecom. we understand that offer has been placed. we do not know how much four. people we have been speaking to said that it is in excess of 10 billion euros. what is interesting is the regulatory challenges that they face. we have been talking for months that the con solid dacian -- consolidation will have in france. to get through the regulatory challenges, he understood that patrick drahi would sell off some of the assets that he acquires. perhaps the networking

equipment. it is so interesting that we are starting to see the government speak out about this. the finance minister saying this morning that he feels that a lack of competition is not what they should be seeking the moment. he is against a buildup of debt by patrick drahi to build up his empire. you have another speaking out from the government saying that consolidation is not advisable. anna: why such a negative start for this consolidation from the french government? manuel: it was very surprising to me and to most people. we saw this deal coming from last year. i think the government was prepared for it. one of the key questions is that the government has an option for later in the year. they have already today revenue coming from the auction.

if we are going from four players to three players, the process would be less competitive. anna: they could have competitors with more clout would be the counterargument. manuel: at the same time, they fear not being able to reach the budgeted revenue. anna: thank you very much. we will keep an eye on both of those companies this morning. thank you both very much. just a few minutes away. eight minutes until the equities market starts trading. >> we have been talking a lot about euro resilience. the euro is rallying against the dollar have these talks in brussels. i want to show you some of the expectations for volatility.

i have some interesting charts here. this shows the three-month options. you see the line moved down here. what that actually means is that it is more expensive now to actually protect against euro selling. against the euro inclining against the dollar. that price has risen to the highest since 2012. you can see that right now. that is the options on the euro. that is euro-dollar implied volatility. basically market volatility. implied volatility here is lower than it was back in 2009. it is almost at the level it was in 2012. what this shows is that

expectations for volatility in the next month as opposed to longer term, they have been greater than every day this year. over the longer term, it is usually greater than the shorter-term. finally, risk of a greek default. the insurance against a greek default. last year, the risk of a greek default was at 14%. guess what it is? risk of a grid -- greek default, 79%. anna: 7:54, "on the move" is up next. mark is here. he is filling in for jon ferro this morning. i am gathering greece will be in the coverage. >> a busy day. we will meet while the ecb meets to talk about it. they made the ela decision on

friday. two ela this vision is within three days. we will speak to the global fx strategist. he thinks that things may get uglier before they get better in greece. that is his first scenario. also the chief executive officer from principal global investors will be talking about bondific ation of equities. your sort of thing. the deputy for admin reform will be talking to guy. anna: he will be back with "on the move." i leave you in their capable hands. ♪

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jonathan: -- mark: good morning and welcome to "on the move/." i am mark barton. let's get straight to your morning brief. man with a plan for you alexis tsipras meets a west -- meets with creditors. new proposals. 10 billion euro cash bid. makes an offer for france's bouygues telecom that would shake of the industry. rejecting a 47 billion takeover that would be the largest ever deal and a health-insurance

industry. a quick peek at the european market, futures indicating stocks will open higher on this monday morning. a big day for greece. over to caroline. caroline: you said, a man with a plan. we are seeing -- not where we saw the initial futures civic length. pretty much a flat. perhaps not as overexcited as many were expecting. finally, a planet getting on the table and we understand mr. tsipras is flying in and the reaction has been pretty good. alexis tsipras' new offer is progress. how far will that progress goal? what deals could be struck? ahead of the ecb and