That was the day the Swiss National bank unexpectedly scrapped its threeyear policy of putting the franc against the euro at 1. 20. The euro slumped from 1. 20 to a low of 85, that is a drop of 29 before closing down 19 , the biggest drop ever, and the lowest close ever. The move prompted a selloff in companies on concerns this unexpected policy shift would hurt exports. This wasnt the only central bank to cause massive ripples across global markets. Lets look at china. The yuan devaluation on august 11. It triggered the yuans biggest oneday drop since january, 1994. It also prompted a widespread selloff in emergingmarket assets. This is the msci emerging markets index. In the two weeks that followed the yuan devaluation, this gauge sunk by 13 on concerns that the move signaled weaker and demand from china and the start of regional currency wars. Lets finish with the biggest corporate scandal of 2015, volkswagen. On september 18, it admitted to cheating on u. S. Diesel emissions tests. On monday, september 23, vw preferred shares dropped by 19 , the stock plummeted from there from october 2, losing 30 billion euros in value. That is a drop of 37 . With recalls, fines, and lawsuits pending, investors are still awaiting the final cost for the german automaker. Francine 2015 was a year of market uncertainty, concerns about an economic slowdown in china coupled with a falling Commodity Prices made markets nervous. The fall in the oil price continues to cause global shockwaves. And every word uttered by central bankers was examined under a microscope for the nearest hint the era of easy money was coming to a close. At the World Economic forum in davos, the discussion centered 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, what got it going, is we had cheap energy, low Interest Rates, and a very competitive currency. We used that to create jobs. The question is can europe create jobs . So i will go to business. Business can create jobs, but you need structural reform to create jobs. Look what we did in Silicon Valley and the technology world, how many hundreds of thousands and now millions of jobs we created in United States of the last 5 years to 10 years. They all need to pull their weight. 2015 is a critical year for all the reasons we have discussed, but also because there are big trade deals on the table that need to be wrapped up. There is a big climate deal coming up that should fuel anxiety, but also a lot of opportunities. There are development objectives. Those are three key agenda items. In the world of central bankers, regulators, policymakers, business, all of them have to rally around those jobs and growth objectives in the context and him and of those big deals. All of the above. The central bank is doing its part, and is doing as much as the politics will allow. Business leaders like ana are primed and ready to go. The question news whether there will be the Political Leadership to put up a dynamic framework that has got both demand and supply elements in place for adequate growth. Ana banks are prepared and ready to lend. We are an essential part of the equation. We are the transmitters of monetary policy. To the real economy, to businesses and people that want to buy a home and get a mortgage. I think we need a balanced approach that takes into account the broader Public Policy issues that we will discuss here today. Francine in two or three months, if you see the situation is getting worse, is that when you start thinking of extra stimulus . And how creative would you have to be . Haruhiko if our possible path to prevent inflation is affected, particularly the inflation expectations, then we can make adjustments. To our monetary policy. Meaning additional quantitative easing. There are many ways to do so. [laughter] francine you think you will have to get more creative . Haruhiko yes, i think so. Mark carney given our forecast, the decision about whether or not to raise Interest Rates would come into sharper relief at the turn of the year. The year has not yet turned. As you can appreciate. John it is closing in. Mark carney its coming closer. The progress has been in recent months there has been progress, but it has been mixed. Growth is ticked down to growing on trend. Domestic growth has picked up in line with expectations. Some of the imported costs have been softer. So the picture is mixed, but we still have a situation where domestic demand in the economy is resilient. And private domestic demand is robust. So it is progressing. John you tried to communicate to the british people about possible interestrate rises. You tried that idea, and all of these things. And yet, were still flirting with the idea of Interest Rates. Do you think there was no alternative, looking back . Or would you have any regrets about Forward Guidance . Mark carney look, the important guidance initially was very much about early stages of the recovery and what are the minimum conditions required before we would even begin thinking of raising Interest Rates. And it is interesting. If you look at the historic reaction of the bank of england, given the strength of the initial recovery 2013 through 2014, the strength of purchasing managers, indices, and the growth, historically, the bank of england would have raised rates three times during that period. In terms of inflation outcomes, that would not have been the right thing. But it was partly binding the hands of the community to say, lets see what the traction in traction is in this recovery is. Lets see what the underlying inflation dynamics were. That was a sensible thing to do, and it acted to give people confidence to continue to invest. Subsequent to that, we have given guidance about the likely path of Interest Rates, limited and gradual. Weve repeated so many times, it is so boring, it gets repeated back. It is part of the furniture now. That is a good thing. Because that was a call we made in december of 2013. Two years ago, we made that call. Now it is accepted, and of course, it has been consistent. Guy the greek saga transfixed the markets in 2015. A new Prime Minister in athens talked tough. Alexis tsipras rejected austerity. He took his country to the very brink of an exit from the european single currency more than once. There was much talk of game theory and many, many late nights. This became an existential crisis for the euro. The country looked on course to run out of cash. The closure of the greek banks only increased the misery of ordinary people who already have endured years of economic pain. Elliot in another era, lets call it before the crisis, or bc, central athens was one of the top 10 most expensive retail locations, not just in europe, but in the entire world. Now it ranks at number 29. That is behind such thoroughfares as in copenhagen and dublin. To tell me more about this, the managing director in the greek parliament. What is the situation right now . Volume shrank by 30 since the beginning of the crisis in 2010. In 2007, athens was the eighth most extensive street in the world. Elliot can you quantify the drop in rents and prices . Nicky yes. Rents dropped from 300 euros in 2010 to 140 euros. Elliot about half of what it was. Nicky about half. Elliot do you get any sense that if and when the greek situation is resolved that this street will get back to where it was before . Nicky i dont think we will go back to where we were before. It is linked with the economy. If things improve, i think that we will do better. Elliot if there is a Silver Lining here, it is that prospective landlords, people looking to buy here, yields have also gone up. You can now get up to 7 back annually on your money, which is a fair sight more than youre likely to get from a bank, if you can get your money out. Guy in july, mr. Tsipras stunned the world again with news of a referendum. The greeks would get a chance to vote on the bailout with the countrys creditors. During a live interview with me on bloomberg tv, the countrys controversial finance minister, yanis varoufakis, announced his intention to quit if the vote went against him. Guy what are the greek people him voting on . There are plenty of people saying that there is effectively no offer on the table. I am curious on what you think. Yanis varoufakis it is ingenious, is in it. On the 25th of june, what was presented was a comprehensive proposal. It was more or less on a take it or leave it basis. What we said was, for us i am sure any independent observer would agree with this if we were to agree on it, we would be extending the crisis for another few months. The banks would be open, but we would have exactly the same situation as we have had the last five months. What we are saying to the greek people is no more extend and pretend. Please back us. To this, this has absolutely no funding proposal worth of the paper is written on. This is what we are saying no to. This kind of mentality. Just sign up, take a small bunch of money just to tide you over a few months, then we come back to the same crisis and negotiations. It is time to end this. Guy if it is voted yes, what will you be prepared to sign come tuesday morning, if there is a yes vote . Yanis varoufakis do you have any doubts that if there is a yes, the same proposal presented to me on the 25th of june will be back on the table . It certainly will be. It is what institutions want. Guy and that is what you will sign up for . Yanis varoufakis we will find a way maybe of signing this, maybe we will change the government. Some of us may not be able to stomach it. I will not sign another extend and pretend. I am allergic to extending and pretending. But i will not scupper it. I will not scupper it. I will do and i am sure with the Prime Minister will do and what the government will do is what we must do in order to respect the yes vote. But there will not be a yes vote. Im quite confident that the greek people have had enough of extending and pretending, like the rest of the world, by the way. Guy so, if it is a yes vote, come monday night, you will not be finance minister. Yanis varoufakis i will not. Guy ok. So this is make or break for you . Yanis varoufakis there is no sense in specular now, firstly because the greek people say no, because they have had enough of losing dignity by signing agreements and making pledges that simply cannot be met. Francine the biggest names in business talked to bloomberg in 2015. Over the past 12 months, we have discussed political risks, the future of banking, and how to put the issue of Climate Change to prepare for the corporate world. The Saudi Oil Minister surprised many when a bloomberg debate in paris in may predicted a future without oil. Mr. Alnaimi in saudi arabia, we recognize that eventually, one of these days, we are not going to need fossil feels. I dont 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. Panels, and we have acreage to lay them out. So that sounds like a very attractive project. And so we have embarked on developing a major integrated industry from the silicon in the ground to the panels 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] francine one of these days, in 30 years . Mr. Alnaimi oh, no, no, no, i think you will see major gigawatt production of electricity in the next five years. Francine there were major changes in the european Banking Industry this year, but it was not just a matter of a different face at the top. Most large european banks announced major retrenchments from the world of investment banking. Lets hear from santanders ana botin. But first, we hear from tidjane thiam, the ceo of credit suisse. Francine you are the golden child. Right . You were the guy who came in over the summer, turned it around where the share price 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 . Because you were the messiah of credit suisse. Tidjane thiam you knew me a little, and you know im focused on the medium and long term. Ive never been worried about my shortterm reputation. It goes up and down. You are never as good as they say, never as bad as they say. So i just try to keep a cool head. I tried to focus on the job at hand, which is to deliver a strategy. I was pushed when i arrived that we delivered by october 21 and new strategy, targets, organization, and team. In three months, i think that is a reasonable job. Sergio ermotti it was a very challenging quarter. In addition to everything you mentioned, think about the seasonality that you also have during the summer. So you go from an environment in which the fed was expecting to hike and it turned out to do the opposite. Big changes in the sentiments and emerging markets, what happened in china, what happened on the geopolitical front. So im very glad that we manage the risk of the bank effectively, but also we managed, managed in the good times, with clients, their risks. And thats the biggest success for the quarter. The language you used. Pronounced deleveraging in asia. Should we be concerned for 2016 . Sergio ermotti not really. The journey of asia, of growth, of Wealth Creation is still intact. It is a little more volatile with everything that has happened, but i feel confident that we will continue to have a substantial part of our growth coming from asia. Of course, it is going to be a more challenging environment going forward, but we are well prepared. Lets talk about the investment bank. Revamped, restructured, delivered a return on equity of 33 . Where did the equity come from . And is it sustainable . Sergio ermotti it is very sustainable. If you look at banking for the last 12 quarters, we had always beaten our minimum of 15 , so we were always above 20 . In different market conditions, good and bad market conditions, very Challenging Market conditions, we are very focused with our resources to serve clients and become a very effective and successful business model. Him and ana botin we know where we want to go, we now need to execute. Again, we are a bank, it is not going to be as exciting as the last 12 months. It is not going to be about new people, raising capital, that is over. It is now about executing for customers and continuing to deliver for our shareholders. That is a big task. Ok . I always think about our people and our team. If we cannot attract the best team i want to have the best team in the u. K. , the best team in brazil. And i think we have that today. And i think maybe we can do more in terms of building and strengthening on second and third level. But i think we are in a good place. And then of course the macro. I think that is the biggest challenge we have. Like i said, the balance between developed and developing in santander. So the 10 core markets are in europe and the americas. And it is split between developing and developed, if we do that, we will better do than others. Now we will be affected, but less than others, and that is what i believe will happen. Francine so no asset sales and no further Capital Raising . Ana botin we have huge potential to grow with existing customers, so we do not need to buy. We do not need to buy. We have and we will continue to look at opportunities in our core markets, but it is not something that we need to do. Francine british politics attracted major attention in 2015. Months of Economic Uncertainty seemed on the cards. In the end, the wrong. Tory leader David Cameron no longer needed local partners to stay in power breaking the electoral gains of scottish nationalists made political history while the labor and liberal Democrat Party thrown into disarray. It was the issue of corporate accountability that preoccupies the labor party leader, when he launched his campaign here come at bloomberg in march. You talked about a case to make a profit downstairs. What is an acceptable profit to make . Is there such a thing . That is about the way that markets were. I think it is very important that the companies are making profits, making welcome and employing people. There is a big issue for me as labour leader going into the selection because i know we will not have money to spend. We will be making cuts if we get into government. The way we are going to achieve a libras way of just achieve levers traditional way of social justice is working with the people. We have to create those good paying jobs that will build the recovery and reach everybody in our country, not just some. Things are fixed and fine. That is not the reality. Thats not what i find i talked to people. Create those good paying jobs that actually reaches everybody in the country, not just some. I would like to complement mr. Miller brand. This brightp with idea at the time of elections. It definitely gives a hope to him somewhat. He is very sensible but and he has fire in his belly. Are circumstances which i would leave this country, regrettably. And from a resident active view, it is, your board will say this time he contemplated read alma smiling, and redomicile in the two cities like new york is not the but it is a much more clement environment from a regulatory point of view. Francine the drama of the Election Results took everyone by surprise. Three leaders resigned in its wake. Any personal disappointment i have from this result is nothing compared to the sense of sorrow i have at the result that labor has achieved across the united kingdom. Isaac larian i declare they are duly elected as a member of parliament. I said as this campaign went on with that if i did not win, i would stand down as leader of ukip. I shall be writing to the u. K. And the Ukip 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 democrats. So we can have a government that stands up with people again. I am tendered my resignation starting this afternoon. Generally, for business, because of the position of labor was taking, particularly in relation to big business, bashing been as this drive good news. We have seen that in the markets when you look at the sterling or equity markets. Attention will turn to a great evening for the smp. The interest was proeurope. If there was a referendum vote against, to come out, where would that leave them . The issue was we going to focus on the referendum, the union itself, the election has been divisive, it has been as one journalist said to me earlier, and election around identity and the growing identities we see in scotland and in wales and other parts of the country. And last but not least we wont see the deficit. We will get into this election cycle and the chancellor has done it great job, positioning perfectly. I think the lesson from this election, there was this big debate as to whether people were feeling better. The polls seem to indicate that they felt better. The other thing that was working in the conservative parties favor ultimately was this smp aggression. This position they talk about trying to lock David Cameron out of downing street. I think that reverberated against the smp and against labor. Maybe the ukip voters came back. It was a good evening for business, but now attention turns to the next big issue. Scottish parliamentary elections next year where attention will be on this issue again as well. Francine looking forward, of course britains place in europe is on course to be the Major Political concerns of 2016. From a stability point of view it is relatively important that we stay in the european union. We would be much longer financially within the european union. Much more widely to attract investment, a much bigger investment market. Just the fact that he referred to the fugitive plan as an extreme risk scenario speaks volumes. It is important that you are inside the single digit markets, because being outside would be more cost. We are in favor of remaining inside with economic space. Of course, we hope that this would be the electorate decision. The voters have to decide, and then we make our own assessment. It is in the longterm interest of the u. K. To stay in. I have a lot of faith in the privatization of the british people. I believe that in the end it will be the outcome. There is a feeling in europe that we would rather have the brits and then out. But we not going to bend over backwards and compromise the future of the eu by pandering to David Cameron. Ryan International Sanctions imposed on russia started to bite in 2015, but the killing, although a lower numbers, continues in ukraine. We spoke with the president of both countries here on bloomberg tv and reported on the human tragedy unfolding in eastern ukraine. Ryan the fastmoving car should have been a clue. Some small arms fire there. You do not have to go very far to find the fighting. We are on the outskirts of donetsk, and as you can hear, there is a battle going on. We came to this bridge to film some of the destruction caused by war. What we did not realize was we were not entirely outside of the battle zone. [speaking russian] ryan it turns out, i am standing on a tank parked just under the bridge. A fighter offcamera 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 are free. Here we go. The next day, we returned better prepared. The flak jacket. Our helmet here. Last but not least, fresh batteries. [speaking russian] ryan we are being driven to the Donetsk International airport, the most fought over piece of real estate in the entire war by a prorussian fighter to get a sense of what lays ahead. Two truces have collapsed already. He thinks this one will too. [speaking russian] ryan he says a ukrainian militia that enjoys a billionaires backing is shooting at them right now. Ryan keep a low profile. Could be snipers. [speaking russian] ryan a series of strange moments awaits me. It is International Womens day, a big holiday here, and he and the fighters have come with gifts for another member of the separatist battalion. [speaking russian] ryan ukraine spent hundreds of millions of dollars building the airport. Donetsk was about to host the european soccer championship, and the country wanted to show the world it, too, could have a firstclass airport. Ryan it is now a wasteland. Its only value is that of a buffer. This is utter destruction. I mean, i have been in demolition sites, war zones, but ive never seen anything quite like this. Its 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 did not 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 arent always on the same page. Ryan later in the year, i sat down for an exclusive interview with ukraines president. Petro poroshenko one of the most active sanctions, including financial ones, others, but the purpose of the sanctions is not to make not to be the most harmful to the russians, not at all. We just want to create the motivation. Please, stop the aggression. Please, stop the fire. Please, stimulate the settlement of the agreement in the economic, social, humanitarian, and other spheres. We have an obligation what is necessary to do. Ryan im on my way to st. Petersburg, where the russian president holds his annual forum. It will take place later this week. He effectively encourages Business Leaders to come there and pitch investment in russia. What would you say to the investors and Business Leaders that will gather in st. Petersburg that are coming from outside . Do you think they should stay away from russia . Is that your advice to them . Petro poroshenko everybody should undertake the steps, which depending on them, to share the values which they believe. Ukraine fighting here not just for the money, for the salaries, they are fighting for values. European values. I am very pleased that the people of the whole world are demonstrating solidarity with ukraine. That happened during the voting in the General Assembly of the united nations. That happened many times. And i am absolutely happy. Not only the leaders of the states, not only the leaders of the government, not only the politicians, but the investors and businessmen should demonstrate that they also shared the same values. If they share the same values, they will follow the sanction approach, which was demonstrated by the countries. Because without that, it will be simply impossible. And making business in russia under these conditions would be extremely risky. Ryan a week later, we sat down with Vladimir Putin in russias imperial capital, st. Petersburg. What are acceptable borders for ukraine, for russia . What borders are acceptable for you . Vladimir putin what do you mean when youre talking about borders . Geographical borders or political borders . What are you talking about specifically . As for cooperation, we have always said, and we are going to say that in future, there is nothing new about that, despite all the difficulties of today, i have always thought that ukrainians and russians are one people, one ethnic group. While certainly they have their cultural particularities, but they have, and culture, common foundations, common history. Whatever happens in the end, russia and ukraine are destined to a common future. Ryan just as the conflict in ukraine was dying down, russia began its First Military intervention outside of the former soviet union in more than a quarter of a century in syria. Russias rift with the west continues. In 2015, bloombergs video journalists have ranged far and wide. We featured a micronation, liberland, a hunt for gold in ireland, but first, lets take a look at iran. The rial had declined significantly since there were sanctions. We visited one street trader to find out how life has changed with the currencys decline. Downtown tehran, men gather, money is piled high, and they are here to trade. At the end of this street, you find the informal currency market. If you want to know how much sanctions have affected the iranian spending power, you can just come here. After sanctions were heightened on irans economy, the rial lost nearly two thirds of its value against the dollar. The government has cracked down on the informal traders who trade on this street corner, and they dont like being filmed. One trader did agree to speak to us. [speaking iranian] since the nuclear deal was signed, the rial has started to stabilize, and hopes are high. [speaking iranian] high enough to be quoting shakespeare. To make headway down a mine, you need explosives. These ones come with a police escort. Until very recently, bringing explosives into Northern Ireland simply was not possible. This isnt any old mine. Dalradian operating it says there are at least 3 million ounces of gold in the ground. This one here is typically you get one vein that is running out. We can find at least 10 so far paralleled to each other, which lets you add more scale to the sort of production you can do. At current prices 40 less than their peak, it would be worth 3. 5 billion. Despite this, lower gold prices mean investors have been harder to find. Keep doing the geology. The ceo may not always take life too seriously, but when it comes to this mine, he does not joke. We hit over an ounce of gold at 1000 meters. So we have not found the bottom yet. This system can go for kilometers. This is one of six test drills, which together, have mined over 100 kilometers of core so far. Theyre trying to build a 3d image of what is below the surface, and ultimately, satisfy investors. An army of geologist pore over the findings. We get this very nice white and pink looking material here. You can see within that, these are the iron sulfides, the shiny, metallic, glittery minerals here. Not in themselves interesting, but that is where the gold is, in and amongst those. Half goes to the lab. Half states here as a permanent record. There is a big shed just on the way there about 100 kilometers of similar core. It is this record that has given the Management Team the police that this mine could be one of the worlds best gold finds. We are on average 10 grams a ton. That is big. That will sustain the operation through even tougher gold prices than what we have now. With 100 staff onsite now, the Company Expects the workforce to grow to 300 projects fully realized. Theyre working 12 hour shifts around the clock. It is full steam ahead. Meet vit jedlicka, the president of what he hopes will be the worlds newest country. The Free Republic of liberland. People asked me where you get the permission to set up your own state. You dont get permission. You just go ahead and do it. Jedlicka founded it on a small patch of unclaimed territory near croatia. We needed another haven. In liberland, people can use any currency. There will only be voluntary taxes. The whole nation will be run by crowdfunding campaigns. At only seven square kilometers, liberland would be the third smallest sovereign state in the world after the vatican and monaco. This is absolutely legitimate. It is legitimate like any other nation in the world. We already do have a government. We already do diplomacy. There is only one problem. The croatian government decided that they will block off the whole territory of liberland from all sides. Despite this, liberland has raised 45,000 through crowd funding. It is also attracting private enterprise like the liberland settlement corporation. The corporation has a claim on a large portion of liberland and offered shares at one franc each. Ive put up a post saying here is a 100,000 shares. If you are interested in buying, contact me. They were sold out in 48 hours. This money funds the work of the liberland settlement association. Its members are the real zealots, clashing daily with croatian Border Police. But nikolais is confident that they can outlast croatia. Theyve deployed 70 of their entire Border Police in this small region. They are running out of options. 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 registration from around the world. 8000 people from the United States, 5000 people from russia. Its not a micronation if you go to the number of applicants. 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, its 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 photographs of the year. Martha i was told when i started that i couldnt be a director because i was a woman. And i have been directing now for many years, but certainly not as frequently as i would have had i been a man. Maria i was going into meetings on projects with people as a feature director who had worked with Academy Award nominated actors. So i should have been taken seriously in these meetings. But i wasnt. It was always a sense of, can you really do this . That a man could do itet