Category Archive: 3.) Investec

Swisscom promises to put an end to unwanted sales calls

Swisscom’s fixed line (remember those) customers will be given the option of blocking unwanted calls from 28 November. The service will be free and can be activated by checking a box online or by calling the Swisscom hotline (0800 800 800). Sunrise and UPC are expected to follow Swisscom by mid 2017, according to 24 Heures.

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Swiss National Bank won’t cut record low interest rate again, survey shows

The Swiss National Bank, which has the lowest interest rate among the world’s major central banks, may be done cutting. SNB President Thomas Jordan and his fellow policy makers will keep the deposit rate unchanged at minus 0.75 percent until at least the end of the first quarter of 2019, according to the median forecast in Bloomberg’s monthly survey of economists. That would mean ignoring the International Monetary Fund’s advice to fend off inflows...

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Those with less are worth more in Schwyz than Geneva

Last Friday, the federal Swiss tax office published the latest statistics covering the wealth and earnings of the nation’s more than 5 million tax payers – Switzerland has wealth tax, so net worth is included in tax returns. The highest percentage of the very wealthiest (CHF 10 million plus) lived in Schwyz. Geneva also made the top five cantons in this category.

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Swiss National Bank agrees to pay out 1 billion francs annually

Today, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced a new agreement with the Federal Department of Finance, to pay the Swiss confederation and cantons CHF 1 billion per year, as was previously the case. The deal will run from 2016 to 2020, according to an official press release.

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SMI: Trump win boosts pharma and financials

A rally in pharmaceutical and banking shares helped boost the Swiss Market Index this week as investors weighed the prospect of a Trump’ presidency in the United States. Stocks in the healthcare sector jumped after Donald Trump’s victory as drug pricing reforms, proposed by Hillary Clinton, are now unlikely to materialize.

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How Switzerland came top of the 2016 young worker’s index

Where you are born makes a big difference to the chances of getting a job when you leave school. In 2015, youth unemployment rates in some OECD countries such as Greece (49.8%), Spain (48.3%) and Italy (40.3%) were all close to 50%. In others such as Germany (7.2%), Austria (10.6%) and Switzerland (8.6%), youth unemployment was far lower. Why? The Young Workers Index 2016, an annual report by PWC, offers some insights.

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Investec UK: A Day in the Life of our Graduate Programme

Our Graduate Employees take you through a day in their lives at Investec.

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Swiss government opposes initiative to transform monetary system

The Swiss government urged rejection of a popular initiative that would transform the monetary system and end fractional-reserve banking, according to its dispatch to Parliament. The measure seeks to put the central bank solely in charge of money supply and forbid commercial banks from granting loans that aren’t fully backed by deposits, effectively ending the way banking has been conducted for centuries.

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US Election 2016: Potential Impacts on Currencies

Nathan Hutchings, FX Dealer talks about the potential impacts the US Election could have on Dollar and Sterling

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Europe stocks split on Trump win with pharma gaining

The region’s largest industry group headed for its biggest jump in more than 14 months, tempering losses for equity benchmarks after Donald Trump won the race to govern the region’s biggest export market. Novo Nordisk A/S and Shire Plc rose more than 5 percent, after investors punished the shares in recent weeks amid disappointing earnings and speculation Hillary Clinton would push for drug-price controls as president. Citigroup Inc. had cut its...

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US elections and the possible impacts on the SA markets

Investec’s David Gracey sits down with former leader of the opposition in S.A. parliament Lindiwe Mazibuko for a conversation on the U.S. elections and the possible impact a victory by either candidate would have on the markets. The views expressed in this video are those of the individuals in the video and not Investec Bank. …

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David Gracey & Lindiwe Mazibuko discuss their views on how markets will react to the U.S. elections

David Gracey of Investec previews the U.S. elections with former politician Lindiwe Mazibuko – watch the full video on 9 November at www.Investec.co.za/Money

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David Gracey & Lindiwe Mazibuko unpack the U.S. elections

David Gracey of Investec previews the U.S. elections with former politician Lindiwe Mazibuko – watch the full video on 9 November at www.Investec.co.za/Money

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Merkel says Brexit talks mustn’t impact Swiss-EU negotiations

Swiss talks with the European Union about immigration restrictions mustn’t be impacted by the U.K.’s decision to leave the bloc, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. “In the EU, we should carry on negotiations with Switzerland in the same way as we would have if there were no question on Britain,”.

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Brexit is making it too expensive to go skiing in Alps

The promise of snow across the Alps this weekend won’t be enough to lift the gloom at some of Europe’s top ski resorts as the pound’s post-Brexit slide dents British bookings. Jon Fricker, a property developer in Beaconsfield, west of London, said some of his friends would probably back out of their annual piste reunion if the cost of a long weekend in the Portes du Soleil ski area straddling the border between France and Switzerland climbs much...

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SMI down as investors eye the US election

The SMI is set to finish the week notably lower as investors continue to dump equities amid worries about the implications of next week’s US election, the trajectory of interest rates and mixed corporate earnings.

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UBS reports drop in wealth profit as Ermotti lowers costs

UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti pledged to continue cost cuts after profit at the wealth-management business fell and the securities unit was hurt by a slump in equities trading. Pretax profit rose 11 percent to 877 million Swiss francs ($883 million) from 788 million francs a year earlier on lower expenses, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement Friday.

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Brexit brings specter of common EU tax plan, and bodes poorly for Switzerland’s immigration negotiation

Ireland is facing another tax battle with the European Union and this time it will have to fight its own corner. Less than two months after the European Union ordered Ireland to claw back a record 13 billion euros ($14.2 billion) from Apple Inc., saying the nation illegally allowed the iPhone maker to reduce its tax rate, the European Commission will propose legislation for a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base on Tuesday.

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Pharma giants drag SMI stocks down

A weak performance from Swiss pharma giants pulled the Swiss Market Index down again this week after investors dropped stocks in the sector on lackluster earnings reports. The peripheral European stocks and Japan managed to buck the trend this week, global stock markets remain under pressure in the run up to US election.

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Syngenta slumps on concern of protracted ChemChina EU review

Syngenta AG shares tumbled on concern that China National Chemical Corp.’s $43 billion takeover of the Swiss herbicide and pesticide maker risks regulatory delays in the European Union. ChemChina didn’t submit so-called remedies in the EU’s early-stage review of the deal by the Oct. 21 deadline, the European Commission’s press office said by phone on Monday.

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