Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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Investec is a distinctive Specialist Bank and Asset Manager. We provide a diverse range of financial products and services to a niche client base in three principal markets, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia, as well as certain other geographies. Investec’s strategic goals are motivated by the desire to develop an efficient and integrated business on an international scale through the active pursuit of clearly established core competencies in the group’s principal business areas.
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Hotel sector sees gloomy outlook

2020-10-12

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2020-10-12

Swiss hotels are predicting a worsening outlook, as newspapers warn thousands of jobs could be lost in the sector. According to the latest survey by sector association HotellerieSuisse  at the beginning of this month, more than a third of hotels (37%) say they will have to lay off staff in the coming months.

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Coronavirus: over 1,000 new cases in a day in Switzerland

2020-10-11

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2020-10-11

On 7 October 2020, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 1,077 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection over 24 hours.

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Swiss refiner breaks industry silence on sourcing gold from risky areas

2020-10-10

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2020-10-10

In a rare interview, PX Precinox CEO Philippe Chave defends his company’s record in Peru and says abandoning artisanal miners is not the way to achieve more sustainable and transparent mining practices.

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Women 62 percent of doctors under 40 in Switzerland

2020-10-09

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2020-10-09

At the end of 2018, there were 23,000 doctors in Switzerland, according to a recently published study. Overall, 41% of these doctors were women. Among doctors aged 60-64, the percentage was 28%. However, 62% of doctors under 40 were women, a figure which partly reflects the higher numbers of women graduating from Swiss universities.

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Swiss bank caught in Venezuelan money-laundering scandal

2020-10-08

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2020-10-08

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has found that Banca Credinvest “seriously violated money-laundering regulations” in its handling of Venezuelan client relationships.

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EasyJet reduces fleet and cuts jobs in Switzerland 

2020-10-07

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2020-10-07

Faced with lower demand and with no recovery expected anytime soon, EasyJet Switzerland is withdrawing two of its 12 planes stationed in Basel. Seventy jobs will be lost. 

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A conversation with Thikra Mohammed Nader, exiled Iraqi journalist

2020-10-06

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Thikra Mohammed Nader, a Baghdad native who worked there as a journalist for a quarter century, fled to Switzerland in 2006. Decades ago, she was honoured by the Iraqi government for her work and was one of the first journalists on the ground of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. But throughout her career and especially following the arrival of American troops in Iraq in 2003, she was targeted and threatened for her writing which contained ideas that ran...

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Pandemic increases demand for second homes in Switzerland

2020-10-06

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2020-10-06

Demand for second homes has risen since restrictions related to coronavirus were loosened, according to real estate company Wüest Partner.

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Hackers steal wages from Swiss universities

2020-10-05

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2020-10-05

Unidentified cybercriminals have managed to siphon off employee salary transfers from at least three Swiss universities, including the University of Basel.

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Rising numbers struggling to pay rent in Switzerland

2020-10-05

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2020-10-05

Nearly 44% of renters surveyed said that coming up with the money pay rent is now harder than it was before Covid-19, according to ASLOCA, a renters’ association.

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Home office could lead to 10 percent less office space

2020-10-04

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2020-10-04

Despite the easing of Covid-19 measures, remote working is still widespread in Switzerland, with almost a third of service sector employees still working from home.

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Investors stake their money on postponing death

2020-10-04

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2020-10-04

A group of wealthy investors is gathering virtually in Switzerland to stake their money on a new asset class. It's longevity, underpinned by the science and technology of longer and healthier lives, and it could be a multi-billion-dollar market.

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Coronavirus: Switzerland seems to be fending off potential second wave

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

The number of recorded Covid-19 cases in Switzerland has declined over the last 12 days. Over the most recent 14 days, the number of recorded cases per 100,000 in Switzerland was 59, below the figure of 60 used by the Swiss health authorities to define a region as high risk.

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Switzerland ranked sixth in digital competitiveness study

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

The Alpine nation has slipped one place to sixth in the “World Digital Competitiveness ranking” compiled by the Lausanne-based IMD business school.

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Greenland glacier water wins environmental shame award 

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

A mineral water from Greenland glaciers sold by Swiss retail chain Manor has been dubbed worst climate offender in this year’s “Devil’s Stone” award by the Swiss Alpine Initiative. 

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The Alptransit project – Lötschberg, Gotthard and Monte Ceneri tunnels through the Alps

2020-10-01

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The Lötschberg, Gotthard base and Monte Ceneri base tunnels make up the Alpine rail link project. The idea to dig the three tunnels under the Swiss Alps was approved by Swiss voters in 1992. Twenty-eight years later, the project is symbolically completed, as the last tunnel, the Monte Ceneri, was handed over to the Federal railway company, SBB CFF FFS, who will exploit it.

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UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2020: Munich and Frankfurt are the most overvalued housing markets globally

2020-10-01

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2020-10-01

UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index: Overview, 2020
The UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index, a yearly study by UBS Global Wealth Management's Chief Investment Office, indicates bubble risk or a significant overvaluation of housing markets in half of all evaluated cities.

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Zurich invention may be used in Fukushima nuclear clean-up

2020-10-01

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2020-10-01

Researchers in Zurich have developed a filter membrane made of whey proteins and activated carbon that can clean contaminated radioactive water. They hope to deploy their invention at the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

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How are Swiss cities being planned?

2020-09-30

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Swiss cities and the growing areas around them are increasingly being developed. An expert on urban transformation walks us through the three phases of Swiss spatial planning, with examples in Zurich.

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The colonial vision of Swiss multinationals

2020-09-30

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2020-09-30

Switzerland is the home of many major multinational companies, many of which date back to the late 19th century, the high tide of colonialism. But is there a link between the rise of great Swiss corporate names and European colonial expansion? The issue turns out to be a complex one.

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