. welcome to "street signs." i'm joumanna ercetche. these are your headlines theresa may survives a no confidence vote but the scale of the revolt caps sterling gains and clouds her visit to brussels to talk brexit with eu leaders. auto stocks drive gains across european markets as wilbur ross tells cnbc german carmakers stand to make the most on easing tariff tensions. >> that's a very direct help to

us and probably will be helpful in the talks we've been having with the german auto manufacturers. swiss asset manager gam sinks in early trade as they scrap their dividend and slash jobs afterpredicting seeper losses for 2018. tui trades near the top of the stoxx 600 after strong hotel and cruise bookings. we'll talk to the ceo at 1:30 cet. that's a first on cnbc welcome again to "street signs. today is a very special edition of "street signs." we're live from westminster and brussels to bring you the developments from the uk government and brexit negotiations we're also live in frankfurt where it was a big stage for

central banks as well. speaking of central banks, we have the norges bank decision that has just come out a couple minutes ago. they have kept rates unchanged at 0.75 basis points back in september norges bank did hike for the first time since 2011 they had repeated a commitment to hike again in 2019 in the first quarter and another hike by the end of next year. two further hikes anticipated. to give you other main headlines that we're getting, the central bank says the september 2018 monetary policy report, activity indicators have moved down, slower growth abroad and a flattening of investments on the petroleum side it's an oil sensitive economy and they're citing downside risks when it comes to energy.

a little bit of dovish language really coming out of this georges bank from what i can tell on first blush. they say they see underlying inflation close to the target of 2% that still justifies their outlook for further rate hikes the inflation is expected to remain close to target in coming years as well. the policy rate forecast is little changed, but the fall in oil prices and weaker global growth prospects may have an impact on rate rises in the future and that could lead to a slightly slower rate rise. putting it together, we have the ecb coming up in a couple hours time we had a dovish swiss national bank we had speak to julianna about that we also had a dovish norges bank norges bank is the only european bank hiking. >> the result of the ballot held

this evening is that the parliamentary party does have confidenc confidence >> well, theresa may has managed to fend off a conservative party leadership challenge surviving a vote of confidence by 200 votes to 117 sterling had been trading higher ahead of the ballot but later retreated as the number of tory mps voting against the british prime minister showed the daunting task of getting brexit through parliament. >> i'm pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight's ballot while i'm grateful for that support, a significant number of colleagues did cast a vote against me, and i've listened to what they said

following this ballot we now need to get on with the job of delivering brexit for the british people and building a better future for this country >> a draft eu text seen by reuters warns european leaders will to the change or contradict the original brexit withdrawal agreement. the statement added that the eu was ready to provide further assurances over the irish backst backstop willem joins us live from outside westminster. it's been a crucial 24 hours for the prime. the question from here, given that a third of her own mark ps revolted against her what can she do now to get the op sixposn mps to get this deal through >> she will have to get the items that pertain to the northern irish backstop settled.

and just to answer further questions and provide analysis, we're joined by gina miller, you spearheaded a legal campaign to provide parliament with approval over the article 50 process. that was the initial element that started this brexit process. i don't want you to delve into internal politics, but has anything changed over the last 24 hours, you think? >> i think nothing changed we're in the same sense of paralysis we saw before. the only thing that possibly has emerged is that there's a bigger majority against mrs. may's withdrawal agreement than we thought before 117 mps are not now likely to vote in favor of her withdrawal agreement. there is complete paralysis in parliament >> how does that paralysis get resolved, do you think >> i don't think it does we're up against a clock ticking

ever louder. it's not possible. the factions want different things the compromise is not there. so i don't think we do the politics will fade away. the process and the legalities of where we are will start coming to the fore that process is if the vote doesn't go through parliament by the 21st of january, parliament will take over and may well decide that in this impasse there has to be a public vote. it seems to be the only lifeline left at the moment >> for that to happen we need a majority in the house of commons to like the idea of public vote as a way forward do you think right now that hypothetical majority exists >> no. there's two main reasons the labor party have shown very little leadership in this direction. they stayed quiet. they have not taken it off the table. at the last possible moment they will jump on the idea of a public vote. the same will happen with the

conservatives. the two main parties saying we wouldn't have it will be the two main parties who will say it's the only way out of this it will require an extension to article 50 because we don't have enough time to execute an act asking for another vote an then actually to have the vote. >> you were one of the people responsible for making sure parliament had a say if art cice 50 were triggered. do you think they should have a say on whether it should be extended >> that can be unilaterally done by the prime but what will need to happen is that the original bill, the eu withdrawal bill would need to be repealed parliament will have its say if we extend, have a vote and that vote is to remain and parliament will have to revote that bill. >> from the perspective of businesses in the uk and also investors looking at this

situation, what do you think they should be watching for in terms of triggers that might indicate we end up with no deal whatsoever >> i think the 21st of january is significant if there's no withdrawal agreement that goes through parliament, the two options left will be remaining or no deal in that instant no deal will be higher up in the stakes. you need a process in place to ensure there is another vote that could lead to remain. unfortunately after the 2 1st of january, in my view the no-deal panic should set in. >> one final question for you here if you're looking for a second referendum, if you would like there to be a peoples vote to try and, as you say, end this paralysis, what do you think will be the forces, the pressures brought to bear on the prime minister who is clearly safe as conservative leader for 12 months in order for that to happen >> she will not be able to get her withdrawal agreement through

parliament if you can't get that act through parliament you can't get other acts through parliament. that's the paralysis point she cannot move forward from there. there's nowhere for her to go other than put it back to the people there's no numbers in parliament for it, so where else do you go? >> gina miller, thank you very much, talking there about what no-deal looks like the triggers to look for silvia what are t silvia, what are the europeans doing to prepare for that possibility? >> the 27 european leaders will discuss a no-deal scenario later today. the european commission has been publishing several documents telling citizens and businesses how they should prepare for that eventuality. of course the europeans see this as an obligation obviously there is a problem getting the exit agreement

approved and at the same time the time is running out before the 29th of march deadline in brussels they feel it's their obligation to prepare for that eventuality. let me guide you through what we expect as well in brussels apart from the no-deal discussion. the prime minister, theresa may, will be joining the other leaders early this afternoon that will be the moment when theresa may is expected to tell them exactly what she needs from them in order to get the exit agreement approved in the uk parliament there could be a statement later this afternoon from the 27 european leaders, but we know that statement if published will not change the exit agreement. that's been a message that this side has made loud an clear. we can expect reassurances regarding the irish backstop that's the biggest stumbling block in the brexit process. what the leaders can say is the

irish backstop is an insurance policy, this is not meant to be used it will only be applied if the uk and the eu do not strike a trade agreement in the coming years. let's wait for what the leaders will say this afternoon, that statement. they are expected to write that down later today to see how far they're willing to go to help the prime minister >> comes back to that word reassurances it's not clear whether the word reassurances or getting reassurances without written on paper would be enough to satisfy people who have concerned about this deal. i want to discuss the possibility of extending article 50 you spoke and you posed that question to people within the european commission. what was the answer you got on that, specifically as it comes at a time where there's been a lot of domestic revolt going on back home. if that deal doesn't get passed on the 21st, that option may have to come up again.

>> so on the record, officials here do not like to comment about a potential extension in the article 50 negotiations. and they argue that the reason why they don't want to comment on that possibility is because the uk has not officially requested an extension of the article 50 negotiations. but at the same time the officials here have been saying that there is willingness from the u 27 to extend article 50 if needed in that context we cannot forget that there's european elections in may, and it will be very hard for the 27 countries to extend article 50 beyond that because then the series about questions will emerge, for instance, whether uk lawmakers would have to participate in the next formation of the european parliament that's what we've been hearing on the ground. >> excellent, thank you for bringing us the latest from

brussels i wanted to bring in our guest today. thank for joining us back in 2016 you did predict the big depreciation of the pound, saw it coming via the referendum, the referendum that led to a voting out. that's happened. since then, in the years that have passed, looking at how the economy has performed have you done an analysis on how much this brexit and the discussions about brexit have impacted the economy on the ground? >> it's difficult to do a precise calculation, to give you percentages. the main thing we see in the economy is that it's not recovering productivity is not picking up it's not going into an investment boom that should be going at this time, having come out of the reduction policies and earlier recession. in other words, the way that we see the economy, the way that i

see it, it's stalling. it's just waiting to see what will happen. this is very bad for an economy that is as i do see this as a dynamic thing. other economies are now introducing robotics into their industry the uk is way behind >> essentially we lost time waiting to see what happens and what type of trading relationship we'll end up. >> the bank of england says if a transition agreement is finally agreed to, we will see resurgence of investment back into the uk. do you have sympathy for that argument >> we will see an insurgence of

investment if there's an agreement that we know is stable, that that is the agreement that will stay in place for many years if it's favorable to investment. it's also possible to get into a situation where the agreement is not favorable to businesses. it may not allow for free trade with the european union. that's something that's been achi taking place for decades now though we need an agreement to come back, i don't think any agreement would do >> to rephrase that, you think you need an agreement that would still facilitate that free trade going on between the uk and the eu as close to the existing arrangement as possible? >> trade is the key in these agreements the uk economy is an open economy. in the global context, this is a small economy that depends on international trade. it depends on free trade with major trading partners

by far the biggest is the european union >> coming back to that concept of productivity. even before the brexit referendum, uk had a productivity issue why is that the case and why is it that the uk relative to other developed market economies who everyone seems to have a productivity issue, why is it so pronounced in this country >> partly at least because of the debt reduction policies that the coalition government and continues. you do need public investment. public investment in infrastructure and support of business is to adopt the new technologies, if you're going to see growth in your productivity. we couldn't see that public investment dropped to very low levels. just when it was about to pick up we have this uncertainty about brexit at least then we knew where

the -- where policy was leading. we knew where the economy would go now we don't and therefore productivity is going to be there. >> i'm sure that sounds like music to the italians ears what you're saying about physical easing and boosting productivity >> exactly italy had big problems, and now italy and britain are neck and neck on being the laggards of europe >> one quick final question for you. i do love to ask economists questions about their models it's a question i get fielded a lot. is there any natural support floor for the currency here, assuming a no-deal scenario? we see a depreciation that balances the books, so to speak? >> in the long-term, of course there is because the economy has certain fundamentals in the longer term those fundamentals will dominate a no deal would mean short to medium run, but could extend

over three, four, five years of currency volatility and uncertainty. i don't really see falling below what it is now, say five years from now it won't be -- or four years from now i see a huge risk in the next year or so if there's no good deal >> in terms of depreciation. sir, thank you very much for joining us as we go to break, we'll leave you with pictures from the fuego volcano in guatemala, where a group of hikers witnessed an unexpected eruption the hikers immediately retreated to a safer spot. one of the hikers said it was one of the craziest experiences of his life. for your heart...omething your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you...

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in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. welcome back to "street signs" on this central bank day. what we have not discussed is how european markets are faring. we had a good session overnight for asia and the u.s

overnight, the nikkei up around 1% chinese indices up a similar amount for europe the picture is somewhat muted and slightly negative ftse 100 trading 0.10% weaker. xetra dax and cac 40 down a tad, about 0.2% weaker. ftse mib, that's the one index trading in the green this is after the italian government has gone back with a revised proposal for their spending plan at 2.04%, from 2.4% let's see how the european commission responds to that, and whether it's accessible. italian assets are doing quite well one company not doing well is gam. shares are plunging after they announced they plan to cut jobs and scrap their full-year

dividend julianna is in switzerland and has been covering this big story for gam. there's a big price drop in the shares, shares down about 20%, takes it to a full 80% drop for the year this company has been saddled with a lot of issues, be it on the redemption side and on investigations into some of that's policies with some of the personnel as well. >> absolutely. this is a company that has been facing pressures of all kinds. in addition to the regular pressures facing the asset management industry, gam has been saddled with their own idiosyncratic issues before i get behind this profit warning and restructuring plan, if you have not been following the story closely, the firm saw this wave of withdrawals kick off mid summer when tim haywood, their fixed income director was suspended after an internal

probe identifying risk management and recordkeeping issues this drove a wave of withdrawals from the fixed income area from gam. since july they have been under pressure and last month they approved a new interim ceo today shares are down dramatically after the company said they are forecasting a near 1 billion swiss franc loss for the year the bulk of that is from an 885 million swiss franc goodwill impairment charge and they're cutting their 2018 dividend. assets under management continue to fall from september through november by another 4.2 billion swiss francs in their investment management division. this comes after massive outflows we saw throughout q3 on the back of this tim haywood story. for 2019 they expect underlying results to be materially lower than 2018 do to the phasing of

cost reduction programs which plans to cut 10% of jobs silver lining, these plans should start to pay off in 2020, but that's a long way away judging by the market reaction, investors are not convinced. >> absolutely. you can see that, the stock down more than 20% in trading we'll come back to you shortly to discuss the smb discussion. german wholesaler metro says it expects its struggling russian business to weigh on earnings the announcement comes after poor performance at the unit forced metro to issue a profit warning in april, but metro sees its business in europe and asia driving future sales. tui is backing its guidance for the year after reporting net profit for the physical year rose 14% and performance during the winter season was in line with last year the german travel company said its growth was spurred by its

transformation into a traditional tour operator. we'll speak to the ceo, fritzjou ssh fritzjous fritzjoussen at 1:30 central european time. and the iea says supply is going to tighten sooner rather than later, and trade tensions could underline oil consumption next year as well. coming up on the program, the ecb is set to end its bond buying scheme, but questions remain over what the central bank will do with the trillions of euros it's accumulated. more after the break

welcome to "street signs." i'm joumanna bercetche these are your headlines uk prime minister theresa may survives a no-confidence vote but the scale o the revolt caps sterling gains and clouds her visit to brussels to talk brexit with eu leaders.

italian bond yields push lower as the government bows to eu pressure and cuts its 2019 deficit goal gam sinks in early trade as it scraps its dividend and slashes jobs after predicting steeper losses for 2018. and tui trades near the stop of the stoxx 600 after strong hotel and cruise bookings lead the tour operator to a beat on full-year estimates. we'll speak to ceo fritz joussen at 1:30 cet. let's take you to the markets. we had a heavy day already of central bank meetings. the tone has been dovish out of norges the picture for european indexes is in the red. the xetra dax and cac 40 are

down about 0.30% the ftse 100 about 0.11% weaker. the italian government has submitted a revised spending plan at 2.04%, bringing it in from that 2.4% level we have yet to see a response from the european commission, but at least there is progress and the italian government seem to be bending their rules a bit now. switching to foreign exchange, we had an interesting session for cable yesterday. the picture for sterling is firmer now up at 1.2660 yesterday before the no-confidence vote was announced, we breached those 1.25 levels. so we've seen a bounce in cable. another third of a percentage point firmer now that theresa may won the no-confidence vote, all eyes on the next steps

the euro trading a bit firmer heading into the ecb meeting finally dollar/swiss, some weakness expressed there swiss is trading firmer against the dollar on a dovish smb on strength a look at u.s. futures a lot of volatility in the indices thisweek yesterday was no exception with the stock market moving quite a lot and pairing a lrrin into the end of the session. all the three opening slightly up in the green when they open in a few hours time. our main topic today, ecb president mario draghi is expected to announce an end to the bank's 2.6 trillion euro bond buying program today. the purr chaszs wpurchases weret announced in march of 2015 draghi gradually wound down the program but now faces questions

over how the ecb plans to reinvest its purchases amid weakening euro area data, political uncertainty and global trade tensions annette, as ever, is in frankfurt and will be watching this one closely annette, we just heard from norges bank. norges bank was supposedly the hawkish bank in europe again sounding dovish about the outlook. should we expect the ecb to sound dovish today >> it could be that mario draghi is shifting more to the dovish camp but recent commentary suggesting that the esb keeps on being quite optimistic about the economic outlook in comparison to what you hear from many economists i'm joined by the chief economist for the region with snp in frankfurt we were discussing whether we might get a dovish surprise from draghi what do you think?

>> not that sure first like many other market participants who we expect the ecb to confirm the willingness to put an end to the bond purchasing program we expect the ecb to give clarity on how it will win the maturing bonds there's a lot of technicality there. we expect indeed the ecb to lower growth and inflation projection for next year but will that be dovish enough for some people? i doubt it >> there's some people who are suggesting that the ecb could push interest rates expectations more to the future what do you think? is that realistic? >> if you look at the weakness of incoming data you might expect that. but the weakness of activity in the eurozone is probably only temporary. sector related

it's due to the car production and the last figure shows that the export figures show that production and activity is waning somewhat. i guess mr. draghi would keep the possibility to hike rates before october of next year. >> yes, that's probably the case looking at today's press conference, do you think there will be market moving potential news flow coming out of that >> the technicality of the reinvestment would probably be a market mover the ecb should say how it wants to reinvest bonds in terms of geographical great lakesdow aaan with the change there may be a

phasing period we do not expect a twist that could be a slow market mover for today's meeting. the ecb is not expected to increase the duration of its balance sheet. in regards to investment, the time will be monitored closely i would say the ecb will probably have some open statement saying that something like they will reinvest bonds until rates have normalized somewhat probably when the rate comes to a level near 1%, still below the natural rate, but somewhat more normal than now. what would bring probably the ecb to reinvest bonds for the next 2 1/2 years >> let's look at one more issue,

the banking financing instrument so to say, some people are expecting that we get like a new round of tariffs today what do you think? >> it's too early. it's too early for the ecb to communicate on that. the ecb should communicate on reinvestment and forward guidance, but, no the ecb can have time to think and communicate until the end of the first quarter next year. >> okay. thank you very much for your ideas about today's meeting. >> thank you >> with that i'm sending it back to you it will be a very interesting ecb meeting for a change today perhaps we get more information about how 2019 might look. >> i have to challenge you on that, annette. every ecb meeting is an interesting meeting. i look forward to linking back out to you in a couple hours

time join us from 13:30 cet for our ecb decision time special. the swiss central bank held interest rates at record low levels they flagged the situation in fx markets. let's get back out to julianna in switzerland following this story. looking at some of the headlines, the snb has a dovish tone, especially on the inflation forecast they cut that forecast this is not a central bank anywhere near hiking at this point. >> nowhere near hiking that's the message we had from our economists earlier on in the show, to go through the reaction of today's decision, clear message that the snb is sending is one that is dovish. they left rates unchanged and they have significantly reduced

their inflation outlook for 2019 and 2020 they cut the 2019 inflation forecasts, and they say this is mainly due to lower oil prices and the deflationary impact this is having. nevertheless it is important to see these downgrades more than consensus was expecting. it looks like the first rate hike won't come before 2020. heading into today, the thought was the first hike would come in 2019 the snb decisions are closely tied to the ecb. and the prevailing view coming in and out of today is that they will not move before the ecb moves. so a lot is resting on what happens in frankfurt just diving into the outlook in more detail, they said they see significant risks to their baseline scenario.

chiefly coming from political uncertainties and protectionist tendencies these two issues are two they flagged in their september assessment but they're also saying there are significant risks to the outlook based on these two factors, not just risks. they have also said that a global economic downturn internationally would quickly spread to switzerland. so altogether sending a cautious message around 2019. so lastly, in terms of what they could do if conditions deteriorate further, speaking to the economist, it seems that they are unlikely to cut again they would much, much prefer to continue intervening in the fx markets. today they reiterated they're willing to do so to curb that appreciation of the swiss franc. >> julianna, thank you for breaking that down, the snb meeting. we look forward to your

interview with thomas jordan later, the swish nationalbank president. the italian government offered to lower its deficit target from 2.4% to 2.04%. it follows talks between giuseppe conte and jean-claude juncker. the commission said it will begin assessing the new proposal today but could still ask rome to trim spending even more let's take a quick look at how currency markets are reacting this morning. we talked about the positive price developments in italian assets, i also want to talk about sterling because of the crucial 24 hours we had for this country. cable at 1.2650. at the lows we got to about 1.25 a lot of the trading community were saying that's a level where a lot of longs got trimmed, it tabl acted as a natural support

you can see sterling is higher than 24 hours ago. a positive signal that maybe one of the many uncertainties surrounding this brexit end game has been removed this is after theresa may managed to fend off a conservative party leadership challenge, surviving a vote of confidence by 200 votes to 117 willem asked whether the prime minister's promise to renegotiate the irish border will get the wrath of the rest of the eu? >> of course it will that's how european negotiations go i don't think the pilrime minise would have made that statement to the parliament last night unless she had a hint that it might go through i suspect today she's trying to

deliver on that promise a >> another story we've been following closely, german carmakers stand to benefit from a cut in chinese tariffs reports say china agreed to lower levees from 40% to 50%, sparking renewed optimism that a trade spat with the u.s. is cooling. there are also a host of other measures announced in the last 24 hours a big detente reflected in markets. coming up, don't miss our interview with the ceo of revolut. that's coming up after this break.

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. president trump's former personal attorney, michael cohen, has been sentenced to three years in prison for

financial wrongdoing pete williams has more >> reporter: the man who once said he would take a bullet for donald trump is now preparing to spend his mid 50s in prison. michael cohen headed to federal court in manhattan with his wife, daughter, and son hoping he'd get credit for cooperating with federal prosecutors but they said his help was grudging and they pushed for a tough sentence for his own tax and bank fraud and for his role in arranging hush money payments to two women who claimed they had affairs with donald trump, allegations he and his aides have denied. speaking about trump, cohen told the judge, it was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light. i felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own inner voice and my moral compass but the judge said cohen sought to profit from his association with trump and committed a smorgasbord of criminal conduct. sentence, three years in federal prison in a dramatic legal development,

federal prosecutors announced they will not file charges against the third person, along with trump and cohen, who played a role in the hush money payments, david pecker, publisher of "the national enquirer" whose company wrote the check to karen mcdougal. federal prosecutors in new york say his company admitted the purpose was "to suppress the woman's story so as to prevent it from influencing the election." >> the weight of the evidence against mr. trump is starting to build. it's not just mr. cohen, it's also this company. they agreed the president directed these payments and did so to influence the election. >> reporter: the payment was illegal because federal law bars corporations from giving money directly to a candidate's campaign with time off for good behavior, cohen, 52 years old, will ultimately serve at least 2 1/2 years behind bars. a huge fall for the man who was once so close to donald trump. >> i think that there is also a lot of anger and upset and hurt for what this is going to do to his life and what this will mean for his future and for the

future of his family as well. >> reporter: the judge ordered cohen to report to prison march 6th, and in the meantime, he might continue cooperating with robert mueller's investigators pete williams, nbc news, washington >> the uk fintech unicorn revolut scored a key win in its mission to shake up the banking seconder it will offer traditional banking services including full accounts and business and lending services the service will first launch in the baltics. the ceo and founder of revolut joins us on the show, nikolay storonsky. congratulations on obtaining the license. when i think about you getting a european banking license, the first thing that comes to my

mind is extra regulation how do you deal with the banking license and the huge amount of regulation that that will require? >> innovating the space as well. at the moment there are so many things you can do in regulation, it would be stupid not to use them >> all right so look up to shake up the regulation industry as well. how much of your application to get the european banking license was purely a function of being able to obtain passporting rights into europe once brexit occurred >> the way it works, you first apply for a banking license, and then you pass it on to other countries. >> the motivation initially to get the banking license, was that predicated on brexit or was it just a part of your general expansion plans? >> i would say both. we always wanted to be a bank, plus do that

>> you have had massive growth, more than 3 million customers without having a banking license. what kind of pipelines or licenses are in the pipelines and what kinds of services will be offer with this >> i hope this is the first of many licenses, and then additional services is lending and deposit taking >> you talked about some commission-free trading platforms. can you update us on that and what you expect to roll out in that >> yeah. we are launching that the end of january. >> there was some talk earlier this year you would look to have a potential tieup with softbank. how have those discussions been going? and how important would it be for a company like yours to have the backing of a softbank equivalent >> maybe in the future we will have that happen >> so you have not ruled that possibility out?

>> it may happen in the future >> when you have a question -- i have a question going back to regulation, we were talking about re g-tech g tech, how do u monitor the transactions being dealt. in europe, another issue coming to the forefront, the concept of money laundering and a lot of money has managed to siphon through these banks under the nose of regulators without being caught what do you do to keep transaction and monitoring transactions activity while essentially ruling out further expansion, and at the same time being compliant as you apply for european banking issues? >> we have a big data scientist team that works on production monitoring that can be money laundering and for issue-specific partners we have models and we flag

suspicious transactions. doing it in an automated way through technology instead of relying on manual agents >> can you talk about your plans in the u.s.? you said you hope to launch in the u.s. next year that's a very different space, whether it's from a regulatory perspective or the fintech side of things. where do you stand on that >> i hope to launch it in march and april of next year >> have you seen strong demand in the early stages of that launch >> at the moment we have 100,000 people without marketing >> another question on techtackizatitechtac tech taxation, another issue that has popped up this past year how do you think about the european taxation now in expanding your business and do you look at it as a possible headwind in expansion for other tech companies

>> i don't have an opinion on it, i haven't looked at this problem. >> final question for you then, how do you think 2019 is going to shape up for you in terms of possibilities and where you're looking for further expansion areas? >> we are looking to expand in canada, japan, india, latin america. next year will be the year of expansion. what do you think your biggest threat to the business is? >> banks >> okay. thank you very much for joining us on "street signs. nikolay storonsky. a quick look at european markets before we head out, it's been a busy central bank day and it will continue to be a busy central bank day with the ecb coming up in a few hours time. yu european markets are in the red. xetra dax and cac 40 are down about a third of a percentage

point. the ftse mib is the only one that is trading in the green also let switch and look at sectors as well to see where some of the leadership is coming from at the top, basic resources, again, china trade sensetive ther sensitive there. and we have got the defensive sectors at the bottom, real estate down about 1% u.s. looks like it will be slightly positive when things open up. make sure you join me for our ecb decision time special. that's it for now. we'll be back in a few hours time this isn't just any moving day.

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good morning. futures pointing to a slightly higher open. but in this volatile market you can't afford to turn away for just a second. >> investor optimism about developments between the u.s. and china giving stocks a shot in the arm we'll take you live to beijing for the latest plus may sees another day. the uk prime minister surviving a no-confidence vote, but the brexit battle is far from over it's thursday december 13, "worldwide exchange" begins right now.