because you know if the materials they sell some of the. treatments that the consensus can't. choose the opinions that you think are a couple. choose the stories that imply life choose me access to your office. thirty minutes past the hour here in moscow you're watching business on our team welcome to the program taxes or ways to avoid paying them is in the spotlight on

monday both within russia and abroad in fact in the united states a growing number of companies are using offshore bank accounts to avoid paying taxes according to the wall street journal sixty of america's biggest companies have collectively parked a total of one hundred sixty six billion dollars offshore last year all the while washington is looking for ways to close the corporate tax loopholes namely the one that lets companies not to pay taxes on money earned abroad as long as that profit doesn't make it back to the united states for its part russia is interested in knowing the names of its business people who have bank accounts in cyprus known as europe's tax haven it might be a condition for russia to help cyprus which urgently needs twenty three billion dollars to stabilize its financial sector to put all of this in perspective i asked

jacob knell chief economist at morgan stanley russia if he things hunting down tax fugitives is an effective way of filling state coffers. i think this is there's probably two big issues here that i think is a good idea to separate the first series what the international community should do about cyprus which after the write down of of the restructuring of greek debt for cyprus banks who held a lot of greek debt found themselves essentially insolvent arms and there's discussions at the moment about a bailout package which would involve russia which made a loan or two and a half billion euros to cyprus back in twenty eleven. and people have been long reads that it would be difficult to find common ground between the e.u. and russia because russia has certain financial interests in sight for us and some

of the e.u. creditors might want to see changes in the banking legislation in cyprus will be unwelcome to russia so there's been some speculation that this would be one of the key difficult issues in the negotiations about the cyprus faleiro today's news that russia is itself looking to tackle cypresses light touch banking regulation and secure greater disclosure for the beneficiaries i think means that there's greater common ground between the e.u. and the russia in terms of the the kind of conditionality they'll be looking for to bail out cyprus so that's i think the first issue and the second issue is a burn out. money laundering or capital flight from russia central bank governor ignacio said in an interview a couple of weeks ago their. money laundering in russia was costing the

budget about one percent g.d.p. to spend six hundred billion rubles and in a million students total to a bell three and a half percent of g.d.p. . so i think it is a serious problem it's potentially a substantial source of additional revenues that are on the move to the budget and the russian government is justified in taking a range of measures in order to try and recover those funds and make sure that attention to all them is being planned. in terms of the specifics are they. the desire to identify the beneficiaries of these accounts and it amounts in total to nine billion u.s. dollars held by russian banks in cyprus. is potentially a legitimate way of proceeding if you're a u.s. citizen for instance you have to declare your financial accounts if we year to the u.s. government so in some western countries this is already standard practice at the

same time a famous french actor shar depart you just became a russian citizen making no secret of the fact that he's doing it to avoid paying higher taxes in his own country and russia apparently welcomes him with open arms with the arms wide open i should say so is there a double standard bearer it seems like there might be i think that he will only have to pay tax on his income at the russian rate of chantix which for russia resumes thirteen percent which is quite a lot lower than in france where i think it's in the high forty's or fifty percent so probably he'll play less tax on his worldwide income than if he'd stayed a french citizen but putting that that special case to one song i think that sir the kind do information. that the russian authorities is demanding

is in line with international rules and standards rather than being something exceptional so in that sense i don't think that it's particularly onerous but it would be a big change for many russian. to pass a got used to. paying tax on any year revenues that they hold internationally even though strictly speaking under russian legislation is supposed to just today we heard that a u.s. hedge fund manager john paulson is reportedly considering leaving new york to go to puerto rico where there's a tax a loophole and that would allow him to save or on taxes on his nine and a half billion dollar hedge fund so sensually what we're seeing is that everyone all over the world is looking for some kind of a tax a loophole and that's been happening for you know generations years and years so is it is perfectly legal so my question is are these social attitudes about

things like that changing now do we see sort of a joint international effort to fight this on a bigger scale i think there's a piece you at the moment is less of an issue in russia where you had a very small deficit last year of the federal budget but in the western countries we've got these very large deficits at the moment and they've increased taxes quite substantially there's a big debate about tax fairness the british prime minister has raised it it's a big e.c.u. in congress at a moment to the united states and i think that is it is a big push on to ensure that groups of people who perhaps avoided tax in the past whether it's companies or legal persons or companies or individuals are now being put under pressure to pay what's seen as our fair share of taxes i think that there

may be a big international crackdown on these offshore financial centers of but of course there will continue to be a demand for them so it's not clear who's going to come out on top. the budgets of the big governments the citizens who are trying to evade their tax obligations. and signed on to take a look at the markets so far so good on wall street where activities are actively trading this hour the dow is up more than a quarter percent and more modest gains for the nasdaq this hour a smartphone maker of blind worries surging ten percent of the news that group may be interested in buying it european stocks ended the day mixed the foot sea was above the line well above the line but germany's dax given to the pressure that came from fitch downgrading italy one notch the agency said italy's political deadlock threatens the country's ability to effectively deal with economic

challenges also some bad stats from china its retail sales and industrial production numbers came in below expectations moving on to the currency markets there the euro showed some strength against the u.s. dollar on monday here in moscow as you can see the ruble closed makes the currency basket it was lower to the dollar but higher to the euro here in moscow shares were pretty i'll be to on the first trading session after a three day holiday the r.t.s. and the mindset gained a half a percent and more than three quarters of a percent and that's with gazprom being one of the biggest gainers for the day more than two percent in the block one of the day's biggest movers were the shares of russia's largest lenders vera bank of more than one and a half percent in the news that its turkish subsidiary debt is the bank is in talks

to buy citigroup circus consumer banking unit dennis bank being in talks for its sports bear bank refused to comment on the story. and that's all the latest from the business desk up next r t will bring you an interview with a journalist who has a reputation of taking the u.s. administration to task that's after a very short break keep it here on see. the month before the oscars and what annoys you with their predictions and the most after everyone complains about the results but it is a big talked about much as the few hundred people who gathered to protest the glamour filled awards show what part does the oscars us. well although the film life of pi won the oscar for best visual effects effects to you that made the movie

look so amazing were them and hughes has filed for bankruptcy quickly after the film's release you know that seems like a bit of a discrepancy i mean the group that made the best visual effects in the world in two thousand and thirteen is flat broke how can that be this reminds me of how the lead creators of call of duty modern warfare two were let go directly after the release of the game which to date is the eighth highest grossing video game of all time this was done supposedly to dodge paying them the royalties that they you know earned through hard work the problem is that we live in a world where only the bottom line count making as much profit as you possibly can damn the consequences it's just good business practice they say well it might be profitable but it's bad for society as very bad for visual effects and videogame artists but that's just my opinion. download the official application to yourself choose your language stream quality

and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television just doesn't sit well with your mobile device you can watch on t.v. anytime anywhere. mission. critic a free. book free. range chickens free. free. free. download free broadcast quality video for your media projects a free media. com. i'm happy to introduce my guest today matthew levy with associated press the man who's

grilling the state department on a regular basis thank you so much for coming my pleasure mr lee i'm going to start with a philosophical question they say journalists have the power to stop a war why has it not been the case in the last twenty years fifteen twenty years that's a that's a really good question. i think that one of the reasons is that there are not enough journalists out there who are really pushing. pushing back against governments. who may not be representing the facts as they actually are. i think we saw. a very stark example of that in the run up to the iraq war. where the claims of the administration of the bush administration clearly were not correct and they were very few journalists out there who were either willing or able

to really dig down below beneath the the claims of the administration to find out what what really the truth was and i think that in a lot of cases governments intimidate. journalists. and intimidate them into not asking the tough questions and not. was it the case with the u.s. government well it was very difficult for reporters in washington. at the time to really get to get to to get to the truth you had big news outlets like the new york times and the washington post who have sources that are supposed to be. supposed to be impeccable. and so. so i think that there was a sense among editor of other outlets that if these big news

organizations were reporting. on the what the alleged intelligence was about weapons of mass destruction that saddam hussein had that if they were reporting that that it must be the gospel truth and there were very few. reporters or organizations who were willing to who had enough doubt. who felt the need to question and to really dig down to get the correct information and i think that you know the results are what we have seen i don't think that this is a problem and just in the united states i think it's a problem all over the place governments do what they want to and will say what they. will say what they think defends or backs up their policies when israel launched an attack on the palestinians last fall you were there at the state department criticizing the administration in very strong terms for quote

unquote silent diplomacy but if the u.s. hasn't been really silent they've been most supportive of israel as you know hundreds of palestinians were dying and. what more did you want to hear from time to you want to hear bravo israel what was it you know this is the silent diplomacy that i talked about and that i was talking about in that exchange was actually about the u.s. refusing to condemn or not take a stronger line with the turks who was. what he was doing was a war crime now the united states as is an ally of israel and is the ministry all administration say they are always have israel's back they are one hundred percent and for that we all are one hundred percent committed to israel's defense and it's very rare for there to be in the u.s. criticism of israel at the same time i think the u.s.

has to be consistent and so in that case. i was looking for. does the admit the question that i was asking was aimed at getting them to say if they believed. that they thought the turks were wrong to be criticizing israel. they eventually did two days later. but you have one that this was a case where you had one ally israel and another ally nato ally turkey. at odds and this is a situation that we've seen ever since the gaza flotilla and it's a very difficult line and what i'm pushing for is consistency or to show that the administration isn't consistent that it has a lack of consistency in dealing with various allies around the world what is the biggest criticism among in the journalistic community as you sense it right now

well i think that there's. i think that a lot of reporters don't understand how the administration justifies not doing anything in syria when they did do it in libya so they had to be president and they would want the administration to actually go oh i don't know i don't know if it's a question of reporters wanting the administration to go in but it's a question of what happened in libya was that it was that cut off. just threatened to hit us and that was justification in the minds of this administration and europe. for there to be military intervention now in syria you have a case where. assad has actually acted on that threat and there have been many more deaths than there were ever predicted to have happened in benghazi and

yet they are not there is no there is no military intervention like there was and that hits back at the consistency and the lack of consistency while i guess that question of consistency come from in your opinion. that's a really good question and that's the question that you have that i think reporters have an obligation you did this in in this case why are you not doing the same in this other cannot she was there in the quoting you or it was a certainly pushing for eat you know the administration any administration is going to have its policies and it can decide sponsors i don't take a position on what the policy is i don't say i don't think it's my job to say hey president obama you're wrong on this i think it's my job to say hey president obama hey state department hey administration why are you doing this. well exactly. and i think that they owe the people that they govern an explanation of what

they're doing in our name. and oftentimes it's really really difficult to drag that out because one the policy is inconsistent or two. they don't know they don't really know what they're doing you know i think the arab spring took a lot of people by surprise and there was a lot of confusion and no one really knew exactly what to do and i think that continues to this day look at what happened in tunisia which was going to be the model that you know the first country to overthrow its. to oust its strongman. you know if that was going to be the model they have elections everything was fine and now the opposition leader gets clipped killed you know there's a lot of concern about what is going to happen in tunisia about what is going to happen in libya itself particularly after the attack on the qana on the diplomatic the u.s. diplomatic mission in benghazi egypt is a big question i mean it's completely up in the air that you know the army says the

country is at risk of falling apart and i think that it's my job as a journalist on the job of other journalists to find out exactly how this government the government that i cover if i was in london i would be trying to do the same thing with the british government but that i've been to be covering the american government so to find out how they're going to deal with this because it's a huge issue. you said you had a sense that the administration doesn't know what they're doing well i think that a lot of people were taken by surprise at the speed what about you know transition well i think things are a lot i mean you know you can't it's you know it's nearly impossible to predict the future it's very impossible to predict the future and and when you're a policymaker yet that is what you have got to do and thus far i don't think that this administration has really i don't think their people and the people who are in charge of the middle east and north africa have really had a good sense of what was going to happen once decades of autocratic rule

came to an end i mean it's a question of you know do you want to leave mali hell's front of the united states in some of quell the regular. well i wouldn't use libya as an example i would use egypt as a main example you egypt for years the american government under both republicans and democrats coddled a dictator an autocrat or barak why because he provided stability in what is. a arguably the biggest cauldron of unrest and instability in the world and yet that sacrificed the egyptian people's desire for democracy well now the egyptian people have democracy but they're not sure exactly how it works or what to do and the american government doesn't know how to deal with that i want to ask you about access journalism what it what do you think about it do you see dangerous b.s.s.

that's yes i do i think there's a big problem. in this town but i presume it's also in other capitals. where reporters are maybe not as hard hitting as they want to be or should be because they fear losing access to. you know to senior officials who will you know give them give them information and you know that is a. it's problematic i don't know i don't know how you correct it i think you basically just have to stand up for what you believe in and hopefully what you believe in is getting the truth out and holding the administration to account what do you think about that gave me instructions crackdown on whistleblowers yeah i've got a. problem so that. you know i. i think that in.

a free society and in a democracy. you can't. one you can't expect people who are carrying out policies that they don't personally agree with to stay silent and two you can't. and you shouldn't punish them if and when you know they speak out about it now it may well be that a whistleblower has is wrong. or has an agenda to pursue. but i don't i don't like the idea that people get punished that at the same time you know it would be chaos if every classified document. in town was all of a sudden you know released or or or leaked as far as the crackdown what kind of a signal does it send to journalists well i think it's a sends a signal that you know that the government that. the government doesn't want you

doesn't want to take me as an example eyes look at this whistle blowing crackdown is the government is doesn't want me to get the information that i think i need to explain to the american people what's going on and they're willing to go after not just the person who gave it who gives such information but there will if there are willing to go after me as well that's and so i think that back it has a chilling effect that i think is is is not good. enough to say that you know the united states is government is one of the most open governments in the world that's not saying a whole lot. because it does a lot of things there are a lot of clandestine things that go on in the name of the american people that i think most american people that not most but i think some or many american people might might not agree with i think it's you know a journalist responsibility to get that out to get the information out and then

people can make up their own minds as to whether whether or not they think that that the policy is correct why do you think this administration is doing more work in that direction than any other station i don't know. i don't frankly i have i have no idea it is somewhat surprising considering the president came in saying that he wanted to have the most transparent administration in history and yet some of the actions of that is that mr asian has taken appear to be you know exactly. the opposite thank you so much you're welcome my pleasure. victims multiply here each day. it's very profitable to invest in colombia.

that is a very high return on investment. is good knowing that he has said that either working in this area for thirty years you cannot always have to pay the armed groups that they needed that is not a managers who change their name and strategy but just tell the same murderous. high ranking suspects give no comment pretty upset about that mr president as soon . as the president. but then. i won't give an interview i'm sorry but no. investigation is a dead. end up he says sick stop your bullshit and keep quiet or else you'll suffer the consequences. even us and your bodyguards to watch themselves because the same goes for them. rivers from.

i've never heard of such a case as ours where so much money and gold has been stolen so many years. for all the gold in colombia. sigrid laboratory to mccurry was able to build a new most sophisticated robot which fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tim's mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans in greater good which is why you should care only on the dog. please liz

please because the lives of. at least a. little. live . live live. live .