♪ >> this was the year that a threat of economic slowdown in china and the global commodity crunch left markets dazed and confused. in 2015, europe almost broke apart. greece went to the brink of oblivion. the ongoing tension in ukraine, all, over the next hour we review that and more as we reflect on the major market moving stories we have covered here on bloomberg television. >> january 15, 2015, that is the day that swiss investors will

never forget. that was the day the swiss national bank unexpectedly scrapped its policy of capping the frank against the euro at 1.20, the euro slumped to a low of 85, that is a drop of 29% before closing down. 19%, the biggest drop ever, the lowest close ever. the move prompted a selloff in concern the unexpected policy shift would hurt exports. this was not the only central bank to cause massive ripples across global markets. let's look at china. it triggered the biggest one-day drop since the january 1990 -- 1995. it also prompted a widespread

emerging market assets. this is the emerging market index. it sunk by 13% on concerns the move signaled weaker demand from china and the start of regional currency wars. let's finish with the biggest corporate scandal of 2015, volkswagen. on september 18, it admitted to cheating on u.s. diesel emissions tests. 21, sharesseptember plummeted by 19%, the biggest drop in seven years. the stock plummeted from there through october 2 losing 30 billion euros of value, a drop of 37%. pendinges and lawsuits investors are still awaiting the , final cost for the german automaker. ♪ >> 2015 was a year of market uncertainty. concerns about an economic

slowdown in china coupled with with a dramatic fall in commodity prices make markets nervous. the fall in oil prices still continue to cause global shockwaves. and every word uttered by central bankers was looked at under a microscope. they were looking for hints that an era of easy money was coming to a close. and the discussion focused on how to promote global growth. it has been a constant theme throughout the year. >> if europe is going to grow, business has to grow. i will make a quick point, if you look at the united states and what got it going, we had cheap energy, we had low interest rates and a competitive currency. we used that to create jobs. the question is can europe , create jobs? business needs to create jobs. you need structural reform to be able to create jobs. look what we did in silicon valley, how many jobs will be

u.s. over the last five or 10 years. >> all need to pull their weight. this is a critical year, big trade deals are on the table. there is a big climate deal coming up that would fuel anxiety. but also a lot of opportunities. there are three key agenda items. in the world of central bankers and business, all of them have to really rally around those jobs and growth objectives in the context of big deals. >> all of the above, central bank is doing its part and doing as much as politics will allow. business leaders are primed and ready to go. the question is whether there will there be the political leadership to put a dynamic framework that has both demand and supply elements in place for adequate growth. >> banks are prepared and ready to lend. we are an essential part of the

equation. we are the transmitters a policy to the real economy, businesses and people, they want to buy a home, get a mortgage, i think that we need a balanced approach to regulation that brings in policy issues that we discussed today. >> in two or three months, if you see the situation is getting worse, is that when you start thinking of extra stimulus? how creative would you have to be? the past a 2% inflation is .ffected then of course, we can make that adjustment to our monetary policy, meaning additional monetary easing. there are many ways to do so. >> many ways? >> yes. >> so you think you will have to

get more creative? >> yes. ♪ >> given our forecast, the decision about whether or not to begin the process of raising interest rates would come into sharper relief at the turn of the year. the year has not yet turned, as you can appreciate. it is coming closer and progress has been in recent months, it has not been, it has been mixed. growth has ticked down to growing on trend. domestic cost growth have picked up with expectations. the picture is mixed. that we still have a situation where domestic demand in the economy is resilient and part of -- private domestic demand is robust. >> if you try to communicate people about the idea of all these things and yet, we are flirting with the idea of interest rates, do you think

there was no alternative looking back? do you have any regrets? >> no, look. the forward guidance initially was very much about the early stages of recovery and what is the minimum conditions required before we even begin to think of raising interest rates. if you look at the historical reaction function of the bank of england given the strength of the initial recovery, 2013 into 2014, the strength of purchasing managers and growth, historically, the bank of england would have raised rates three times in that time. as you can tell, that revealed, that would not have been the right thing. it was partly binding the hands of the community to say, let's see what the attraction is in the recovery let's see what the , underlying inflation does. it was a sensible thing to do and i think it actually gave people cause it to invest. subsequent to that, we have given guidance on the path of interest rates. limited and gradual.

we have repeated it so many times. it is so boring, it is just part of the furniture now. but that is a good thing, that was a call we made in december of 2013. so two years ago we made that call, now it is accepted and it has been consistent. ♪

♪

♪ >> the greek saga trumped the markets in 2015. a new prime minister talked up. rejected austerity imposed by the european commission. he took his country to the very brink of an exit from the european currency more than once. there was much talk of game theory and many late nights. this became an existential crisis for the euro. on the edgelooked of running out of cash. the closure of banks increased the misery of ordinary people who had already endured years of economic pain. >> in another era, before the crisis, earnings in central

athens was one of the top 10 most expensive retail locations, not just in europe, but the entire world. now eight years later, it is number 29 and that is behind places like copenhagen and dublin. to tell me more about it, we have the managing director. what is the situation now? volume shrank by about 30% at beginning of the crisis in 2010. in 2007, athens was the eighth most expensive street in the world. >> can you quantify the drop in rent and prices? >> yes. ents dropped from 300 euros in 2010 to >> so about half?

160. >> yes. that you get any sense when the greek situation is the street will get back to where it was before? >> i do not think we will go back to where we were before. but it is linked with economy, if things improve, i think that the ranking will do better. >> if there is a silver lining, it is that for prospective landlords, people looking to buy, they will get back on their investment has gone up and you can get up to 7% back i guess annually on your money, which is a fair amount more than a bank, if of course, you can get your money out. >> in july, he stunned the world

again with news of a worker. -- of a referendum. greeks would get a chance to vote on it. me,ng a live interview with the controversial and charismatic finance minister announced his intention to quit if the vote went against him. >> what are the greek people voting on? there are people saying at the moment there is no offer on the table. that you are out of the program. i am curious on what you think. >> it is ingenious. on the 25th of i was presented june, with a comprehensive proposal. it was more or less on a take it or leave it basis. we said for us, just reading it, i am sure that any independent observer would agree with this. this was another extension. if we were to agree on it, we we would be extending a few months. the banks would be open, but we

would have the same situation as we have had the last five months. what we are saying to the greek people is no more extending. please back us. this deal has note specific funding proposal with it and no analysis worth the paper it is written on. this is what we are saying no to, this kind of mentality. just sign-up. take a small bunch of money to tide you over for a few months and then we come back to the same crisis and situation. it is time to end this. >> if it is yes, what will you be prepared to sign tuesday morning if there is a yes vote? >> do you have any doubts that if it is a yes, the same proposal presented in june will be back on the table? it certainly will be. >> and that is what you will sign up for? >> we will find a way of signing it. maybe we will change the government. some may not be able to stomach it. i'm allergic to extending and

pretending. but i will not schedule it. i'm sure everybody in the government will do what we must do to respect the yes vote of the people. but there will not be a yes berdych. i'm quite confident that the greek people have had enough of extending and pretending like the rest of the world. >> so, if it is a yes vote, come monday night, you will not be finance minister. >> i will not. >> right. this is make or break for you. >> but i will help whoever it is . >> and you think that there will be a coalition formed at that point? >> there is no sense in speculating now. the greek people will say no because they have had enough of losing their dignity by signing agreements and making pledges that simply cannot be met. ♪

♪ >> the biggest names in business talked to bloomberg in 2015, over the past 12 months, we have discussed the future of the

banking and how to put the issue of sustainability front and center in the corporate world. the finance ministers surprised many when he predicted a future without oil. ♪ >> in saudi arabia, we are not -- we recognize eventually one of these days, we are not going to need fossil fuel. i do not know when, 2040, 2050. or thereafter. so we have embarked on a program to develop solar energy. why? when we look up, we have the sun every day. we have acreage to lay them out. so that sounds like an attractive project. so we have embarked on developing a major integrated industry from the silica in the

ground to the panel, to the electric company. and hopefully one of these days, instead of exporting fossil fuels, we will be exporting gigawatts of electric power. does that sound good? [applause] >> one of these days, in 30 years? >> no, no, i think you will see major gigawatt production of electricity in the next five years. ♪ changes inre major the european banking industry this year. but it was not just a matter of a different face at the top, most large banks announced major retrenching. he became c.e.o. of credit suisse this summer.

you were the golden child. you came in over the summer. you were the guy that turned around prudential where the share price more than doubled in seven years. how much pressure did you go into looking at this huge restructuring? do you feel like you delivered? do you feel you have been misunderstood or is it just a huge job? >> you know me a little and you know i am focused on the long term. i have never been worried about my reputation. it goes up and down. you are never as good or bad as they say. i try to keep a cool head and focus on the job at hand, which was to deliver a strategy. by october 21 a new strategy new targets, a new team ,. in three months, i think we've done a reasonable job. >> it was a very challenging quarter. in addition to everything you mentioned, think about the

seasonality you have during the summer. you go from an environment in which the fed was expecting to act and it turned out to do the opposite. big changes in the sentiment of emerging markets, what happened in china, on the geopolitical front. i am very glad that we managed the risk of the bank effectively and we also managed in good times with clients, their risk. and that is the biggest success. should we be concerned for 2016? >> not really. the journey of asia, of growth, and wealth creation is still intact. it could be more volatile with everything that happened. we willel confident continue to have a substantial part of our growth coming from asia. of course, it will be a more challenging environment going forward. but we are prepared. >> let's talk about investment

banks. where did the return on equity come from? and is it sustainable? >> it is very sustainable. if you look at the last 12 quarters, the fact we had always beaten our minimum of 15%, always about 20%. in different market conditions, good and bad, very challenging conditions, we are very focused on our resources to serve clients and become a very effective successful business model. ♪ >> we know where we want to go, we now need to execute. again, we are a bank, it will not be as exciting as the last 12 months. it will not be about new people, raising capital, that is over. it is now about executing for customers and continuing to work for shareholders. that is a big task. i always think about our people and team, we cannot attract the

best team. i want to have the best team in brazil and u.k. i think we have that today. we can do more in terms of building and strengthening at the third and second level. i think we are in a good place. the macro is the biggest challenge we all have. i have said the balance between developing and developed, those markets are in europe and the americas. it is a split between developing and developed. that will give us more stability than others. if things go bad, we will do better than others. we will be affected but less than others. that is what i believe will happen. >> so no asset sales and no further capital raising? >> we have huge potential to grow with existing customers, so we do not need to buy. we have and we will continue to look at opportunities in our markets, but it is not something

that we need to do. ♪

i just had a horrible nightmare. my company's entire network went down, and i was home in bed, unaware. but that would never happen. comcast business monitors my company's network 24 hours a day and calls and e-mails me if something, like this scary storm, takes it offline. so i can rest easy. what. you don't have a desk bed? don't be left in the dark. get proactive alerts 24/7. comcast business. built for business. >> british politics attracted major international interest in 2015. the polls predicted a knife edge result between conservatives and labour parties. months of economic uncertainty seemed in the cards.

in the end, they were wrong. david cameron no longer needed political partners to stay in power. the electoral gains of scottish nationalists made political history while the labour and liberal democrat parties were thrown into disarray. but it was the issue of corporate accountability that preoccupied the labor party leader when he launched his campaign here at bloomberg back in march. >> you talked about there being a case to make a profit downstairs. >> absolutely. >> what is an acceptable profit to make? >> that's not for me to name. that's about the way markets work and i think it's really important that companies with -- are making profits, creating wealth and employing people. there's a big issue for me as labour leader going into this election because i know we're not going to have money to spend. we're actually going to be making cuts if we get into government. the way we achieve social justice is working with business to create higher paying skilled jobs that our country needs and that is the big choice of this election.

david cameron wants to say things are fine, we have a recovery now and it's ok. that is not the reality i find when i go out and talk to people. i think people feel the recovery hasn't reached them. we have to create good-paying jobs that is going to build a recovery that reaches everybody in that country, not just some. >> like to complement mr. miliband. by coming up with this bright idea, at the time of elections, which definitely gives a hope to him for a springboard. but again, i have met him personally. he's very sensible and a person with depth. it but he hask , fire in his belly. >> there are circumstances which i would leave this country, regrettably but i would do, yes.

from a business point of view, if the regulatory environment becomes adversarial, you know, your board will say it's about time we contemplated redomiciling. in cities like new york is not easy but it's doable and a much more friendly climate. >> the drama of the election results took everyone by surprise. three political leaders resigned in its wake. >> any personal disappointment i have at this result is nothing compared to the sense of sorrow i have at the result that labour has achieved across the united kingdom. >> i declare cameron mathias is duly elected as member of parliament.

>> i said as this campaign went on that if i didn't win i would stand down as leader of u.k. so i should be writing to the u.k. national executive in a few minutes saying that i am standing down. >> of course, i must take responsibility. and therefore i announce that i , will be resigning as leader of the liberal democrats. >> so we can have a government that stand up for working people again. and now it's time for someone else to take forward leadership of this party so i'm tendering , my resignation taking effect after this afternoon's v.e. day commemoration at the centaur. >> generally for business, because of the position that labour was taking, particularly in relation to big business, bashing big business, i think it is good news. and we see that in the markets, whether you look at sterling or the equity markets but attention will turn to the great evening

for the s.n.p., interests for s.n.p., as i remember it, or pro europe. if there was a referendum vote against to come out, where would that leave the union? the issues we'll focus on will be the referendum, the union itself. the election has been divisive. it's been, as one journalist said to me earlier, election around identity and the growing identities we see in scotland, wales, and other parts of the country. and last but not least it's , about the deficit. the chancellor has done a brilliant job and positioned the conservative party perfectly for the election. it's the economy, stupid. is again, i think the lesson from this election. there was this big debate as to whether people were feeling better. well the polls seemed to , indicate they felt better. and i think the other thing that was working in the conservative

party's favor ultimately was this s.n.p. aggression, this position that nicholas sturgeon took about trying to lock david cameron out of downing street. i think that reverberated against the s.n.p. and against labour. maybe union voters came back to the conservative party. a good evening for business. now attention turns to the next big issue. to some extent the scottish parliamentary elections next year. attention will be on this issue again as well. >> looking forward, britain is on course to be the major political concern of 2016. >> from a stability point of view, it is relatively important that we stay in the european union. we'd be much stronger financially in the union and much more likely to attract inward investment, have a much bigger export market. all those things would indicate

from a macro economic point of view and just the fact he referred to the contingency plan as an extreme-risk scenario i think says it all. >> we had a mostly european conference. 50% of our profits come from europe. it is important we are inside the single digital market because being outside would be more cost. we are in favor of britain remaining inside this economic space and, of course, we hope that this will be the electorate decision. but the voters will have to decide for themselves. and if the vote goes in another direction, we'll make our own assessment. >> i believe it's in the long-term interests of the u.k. to stay in the e.u. i have not moved from that statement and i think it's to our economic interest of the u.k. to stay in the e.u. and i have enough faith in the pragmatism of the british people and i think in the end that will be the outcome. >> there is a feeling in europe

that we would rather have the brits in than out but we're not going to bend over backwards and compromise the future by pandering to david cameron. ♪

♪ >> international sanctions imposed on russia started to bite in 2015 but the killing, albeit with lower numbers, continues in ukraine. we spoke with the presidents of both countries here on bloomberg tv and reported on the human tragedy unfolding in eastern ukraine. >> the fast-moving car should have been a clue. >> small arms fire there. you don't have to go very far to find the fighting. we're right on the outskirts and as you can hear, there's a battle going on. we came to this bridge to film some of the destruction caused by the war. what we didn't realize was we're not entirely outside of the battle zone.

ryan: turns out i'm standing on a tank parked just under the bridge. a fighter, off camera, trains his gun on me and tells me not to move. he wants to check our documents. satisfied with our papers, he relaxes and we're free. here we go. next day we returned better , prepared. a flak jacket. put on a helmet here. last but not least, fresh battery. ♪ ryan: we are being driven to the international airport, the most fought-over piece of real estate in the entire war by a pro russian fighter who goes by the nickname crimea to get a sense of what lies ahead.

two truces have collapse d already. crimea thinks this one will too. ryan: he says a ukrainian militia that enjoy as billionaire's backing is shooting at them right now. >> just keep a low profile. could be snipers. >> [speaking another language] ♪ ryan: a series of strange moments awaits. it's international women's day,

a big holiday here and crimea and the fighters have come with gifts for another member of the separatist battalion. ryan: ukraine spent hundreds of millions of dollars building the airport. the city was about to most the european soccer championship and the country wanted to show it, too, could have a world-class airport. it's now a wasteland. it's only value is that of a buffer. this is utter destruction. i've been in demolition sites, war zones, i've never seen anything quite like this. it's not every day you see an armed personnel carrier in an airport terminal. it is more than clear no one is going to fly here for a very long time.

the apocalyptic scenes go on and on and we didn't even see all of it. half of the airport is guarded by another battalion with its own chain of command. just like the ukrainian side, the fighters over here aren't always on the same page. later in the year, i sat down for an exclusive interview with ukraine's president. >> one of the most effective sanctions are the sectoral ones, including the financial but the one. purpose of this sanction is not to make -- not to be the most harmful for the russians, not at all. they just want to create the motivation. please stop the aggression. please stop the fire. please stimulate the settlement

of the agreement brought in the economic social humanitarian -- here. we have an obligation to do. way to st. petersburg, where the russian president holds his annual forum. it's going to take place later this week. he effectively encourages business leaders to come there and pitches investment in russia. what would you say to the leaders coming from the outside. do you think they should stay away from russia? is that your advice to them? >> look, everybody should undertake the steps which are dependent on them to share the values which they believe. ukraine fighting here, not just for the money, for the salary, fighting for values, european values. i'm very pleased that the people of the whole world are

demonstrating solidarity with ukraine. that's what happened during the voting in the general assembly of the united nations. that happened many times. i am absolutely happy. but not only the leaders of the state, not only the leaders who are coming, not only the politicians but the investors and businessmen should demonstrate that they also share the same values. if they share the same values, they need to follow the sanction approach which was demonstrated by the countries. because without that, it would be simply impossible and making business in russia under these conditions would be extremely risky. later, we satek down with vladimir put than russia's imperial capital, st. petersburg. charlie: what are acceptable borders for ukraine, for russia? what borders are acceptable for you?

>> what do you mean when you are talking about borders? geographical borders or political borders? what are you talking about specifically? as for cooperation, we've always said and we're going to say that in future. there's nothing new about that. despite all the difficulties of today i've always thought that , ukrainians and russians are one people, that there's one ethnic group. while certainly they have the cultural peculiarities but they have common culture common , ritual foundations, common history. whatever happens, in the end, russia and ukraine are destined

to become a -- ryan: just as the conflict in ukraine was dying down, russia began its first military intervention outside of the soviet union in more than a quarter century in syria. russia's rift with the west continues. ♪

>> in 2015, bloomberg video journalists ranged far and wide. we featured the micro nation of liberland, the hunt for gold in ireland. but first, let's look at iran. the real has declined significantly since economic sanctions were placed on the country, a vast open-air currency market has been created. we visited one street trader to find out how life has change with the currency's decline.

>> downtown tehran, the men gather. money is held high and there is a trade. at the end of the street, you find the informal currency market. if you want to know how sanctions have affected iranian spending power, you just have to go there and ask people how much the dollar has appreciated against the rial. after sanctions the rial lost , nearly 2/3 of its value against the dollar. the government has cracked down on the informal traders who trade on this street corner, and they don't like being filmed. one trader did agree to speak to us, though.

>> since the new bill was signed, the rial started to stabilize and hopes are high. >> high enough to be quoting shakespeare. ♪ >> two sixes, two sevens. when that is initiated, it can go off millisecond afterwards. >> to make headway down a mine, you need explosives. these ones come with a police escort.

until recently, bringing explosives into northern ireland simply wasn't possible. >> [explosion] >> this isn't any old mine. the company operating it say there is at least three million ounces of gold in the ground. >> typically you get one courts -- quartz vein. we have at least 10 which provides more scale on the production. >> at current prices, which are 40% less than their peak four years ago, it would be worth almost $3.5 billion. despite this lower gold prices , means investors have been harder to find. >> do the geology.

>> the c.e.o. might always not take life so seriously. but when it comes to this mine, he doesn't joke. >> we hit over one ounce of gold at 1000 meters. these systems can go for kilometers. >> in is one of six test drills which together have mined over 100 kilometers of core so far. it is done to build a 3-d image of what's below the surface and ultimately satisfy investors. at the core shed an army of , geologists pore over the findings. >> we get to this pinky looking material and within those, these are the iron sulfides, these shiny, metallic, glittery minerals. not in themselves interesting, but that's where the gold is. half goes to the lab. half stays here as a permanent record and there is a big shed down the road full of about 100

kilometers of similar core. >> it is this core that has given the company the belief this mine could become one of the world's biggest gold finds. >> that will sustain the operation through even tougher gold prices than we have now. >> with 100 staff on site, the company is expecting the work to grow to 300 when the project is fully realized. workers are working shifts around the clock. for them, it's full steam ahead. >> meet the president of what we homes will be the world's newest country. the free republic of lieberland. ask me, where do you go to get permission to set up your own nation and state? you don't get permission. you just go ahead and do it. >> he founded liberland between croatia and serbia.

anybody can use any currency whatsoever. there are only going to be voluntary taxes and the whole nation will be run by crowd funding campaigns. >> at only seven square kilometers liberland will be the , third smallest sovereign state in the world after the vatican and monaco. >> it is legitimate just like any other nation in the world. we already do have a government and we already do diplomacy. >> there's only one problem. >> we cannot reach the land because the croatian government decided they'll block off the entire territory from all sides. >> depite this, liberland has raised over through crowd $45,000 funding. it is also attracting private enterprises. the corporation has a claim on a large portion and offers shares at one french franc apiece.

>> i put up saying there's 100,000 shares and if you're interested, contact me. they were sold out in 40 hours. >> its members are the real zealots, clashing daily with croatian border police. he is hopeful they can outlast croatia. >> they've deployed maybe 70% of their entire border police in this small region. they are running out of options and the more they beat up our settlers and activists, the stronger they make our movement. >> it is a movement gaining traction all over the world. >> we have registrations around 365,000 people we have 8,000 people from the united states. 5,000 from russia. it's not a micro nation if you consider the number of applicants. right now if we accepted everybody, we would be larger than iceland. >> liberland may be a long way from becoming a real country,

but to its founders, it is only a matter of time. >> thanks for watching our "bloomberg best" year in review special. we finish now with a look at our top bloomberg photos of the year. ♪

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announcer: "brilliant ideas," powered by hyundai motors. ♪ narrator: the contemporary art world is vibrant and booming as never before. it is a 21st century phenomenon, a global industry in its own right. "brilliant ideas" looks at the artists at the heart of this. they have a unique power to inspire, astonish, provoke, and shock. in this episode, we meet chinese artist xu bing. ♪