Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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Electric car sales pass ‘tipping point’ in Switzerland

2022-01-19

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2022-01-19

The number of new electric cars sold in Switzerland continues to accelerate – even faster than predicted, according to the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) car association.

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Victims of CHF800 million fraud scheme feel short-changed

2022-01-18

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2022-01-18

Administrators clearing up a CHF800 million ($877 million) collapsed pyramid scheme have managed to recover just CHF12.7 million from one of Switzerland’s largest fraud cases.

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Swiss cantons mull lower taxes for wealthy executives

2022-01-17

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2022-01-17

Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer has hinted that cantons might lower income taxes for well-heeled executives as the country braces for the impact of a minimum corporate tax rate.

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Why governments need to tackle the impact of trade on climate change

2022-01-16

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2022-01-16

In 2021, global carbon pollution returned almost to 2019 levels, after a drop during the lockdowns of the pandemic year 2020. Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved The production and trade of goods is at the heart of the globalised market and has a significant environmental impact. Yet there was little discussion at COP26 on how to make it more sustainable, the former director of the World Trade Institute (WTI) tells SWI...

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Finance minister says global corporate tax to come into force in 2024

2022-01-14

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2022-01-14

The Swiss government has pledged to implement from 2024 the minimum tax rate for large multinational companies under a global tax deal.

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Cost of Swiss postage hiked for first time in 18 years

2022-01-12

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2022-01-12

From 1 January 2022, the cost of posting a standard letter for next day delivery (A-class) is 10% higher and a B-class letter 6% higher. These price hikes are the first of their kind in 18 years, reported RTS.

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Banks risk becoming new fossil fuel villains in 2022

2022-01-11

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2022-01-11

As businesses were gearing up for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, one of Europe’s larger banks released an update on how it planned to do its bit to combat global warming.

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Swiss central bank forecasts CHF26bn annual profit

2022-01-11

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2022-01-11

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) expects to post a profit of CHF26 billion ($28 billion) for 2021, a windfall made exclusively from its growing foreign currency holdings.

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No weakening expected in Swiss house prices

2022-01-10

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2022-01-10

The Swiss housing market continues to rise with no signs of weakening, reported RTS this week. According to the real estate platform immoscout24, the average price per m2 for a family home in Switzerland has risen from CHF 6,700 to CHF 7,200 over the last 12 months, a rise of 7%. Apartment prices have risen even further in some places.

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Switzerland writes off small portion of flight repatriation bill

2022-01-09

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2022-01-09

The majority of stranded Swiss people repatriated during the first pandemic wave have paid back their share of flight bills. But the foreign ministry has been forced to write off CHF210,000 ($230,000) and is still haggling over another CHF360,000.

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Zurich court rules Uber drivers are not ‘independent workers’

2022-01-08

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2022-01-08

The latest cantonal ruling on the US ride-hailing firm comes as a national framework to determine the status of gig economy workers in Switzerland is still lacking.

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Shared e-bikes and e-scooters ‘do climate more harm than good’

2022-01-07

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2022-01-07

Shared e-scooters and e-bikes can have a negative effect on the climate, a Swiss study has found. This is because such services generally replace trips with normal bicycles, rather than cars.

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Pandemic pushes Swiss house prices higher

2022-01-06

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2022-01-06

The value of residential property in Switzerland continued to rise strongly in 2021 in the wake of Covid-19. Property prices are likely to rise further this year, according to an analysis.

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Annual consumer price inflation hits 0.6 percent

2022-01-05

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2022-01-05

Consumer prices in Switzerland increased by 0.6% on average last year, according to the Federal Statistics Office. and +0.4% respectively.The consumer price index fell by 0.1% in December

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Zurich Airport faces another loss for 2021

2022-01-04

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2022-01-04

The Covid pandemic has hit Zurich Airport, one of the biggest employers in the region, hard. But CEO Stephan Widrig says there are sufficient financial resources to get through the crisis, including the Omicron variant.

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Watchmaking workforce remains stable despite pandemic

2021-12-28

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2021-12-28

The annual census of the Swiss watch industry labour force found that partial unemployment helped the industry weather the pandemic over the last year. The number of employees in the industry remained stable in 2021 while the share of high skilled staff increased.

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In global supply chain crisis, even Swiss skis are counting the cost

2021-12-27

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2021-12-27

Shortages of raw materials and logistics bottlenecks have made 2021 a tough year for Swiss manufacturers, and contributed to a downgrade in the government’s GDP growth forecast for the economy next year. 

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Credit Suisse sacks managers over Greensill scandal

2021-12-26

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2021-12-26

The Credit Suisse bank has fired the managers overseeing a multi-billion-dollar fund strategy linked to the now-defunct Greensill Capital.

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Switzerland set to tax e-cigarettes

2021-12-25

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2021-12-25

On 17 December 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Council put forward a plan to tax the liquids used for e-cigarettes, reported RTS. The Federal Council is proposing a tax similar to the tax on tobacco but at a lower rate in line with e-cigarettes’ lower toxicity. The government does not want to discourage tobacco smokers from transitioning to e-cigarettes and proposes a rate 77% lower than the tax on tobacco cigarettes.

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How a secretive central bankers’ club responds to crises

2021-12-24

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2021-12-24

Every other month, the world’s most influential central bank governors gather in Basel to swap notes, reinforce personal ties and untangle the technical details of keeping money flowing around the world.

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