Big Business - International Law / What is a multinational?

TimMultinational corporations from the clothes we wear, to the technology we use. They influence and control our lives in ways we possibly don't even understand.

We'll show you how the law shapes their behaviour to keep us safe.

In this first episode... they're bigger than many countries, but what exactly is a multinational corporation? With huge resources and growing power, what keeps them in line?And is the law keeping up as these companies change themselves and the world around us?

Multinational corporations private companies which operate in many nations can be richer than some countries... and they're getting richer.Food and drinks maker Nestl , famous for Kit Kats and Cheerios, was worth around 350 billion dollars in 2020. That's more than the economic output of Portugal.

Oil company Shell is worth 87 billion dollars more than the Democratic Republic of Congo. And apple, whose products you might be using now, is worth 2 trillion dollars. That puts its wealth ahead of both Russia and Canada! How have companies got so big recently?

SilverWell, in part the growth of the internet means that a company can be based in one place, but sell around the world. And that means it can grow and become very powerful. Another aspect is China: it has opened up in recent decades and so has been able to attract investment from around the world, helping these companies to grow bigger.

TimThe world is changing. These powerful international organisations can know what we buy, who our friends are and virtually everything else about us.

Questions have already been raised about how they're using this power.If they chose to abuse that power and even break the law, what would stop them?We spoke to lawyer Mark Stephens and asked how the law is changing as multinationals get bigger.

StephensThe law's had to adapt and change from a nationally based system where, you know, a company would only work in one country, where... to the modern day, where companies will have multitudes of jurisdictions that they operate in and therefore they need some kind of almost global control and that's where international law comes in, because it sets the standards the basic minimum standards that they have to comply with.

TimMark thinks the law needs to develop to set basic standards for multinational corporations. Many laws were designed when companies were in just one country. So, how effective is the law in dealing with multinationals?