Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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Investec
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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Arm wrestling over the control of money

2021-12-12

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2021-12-12

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is doing its best to keep up with the fast-evolving world of cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance.

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Why Switzerland props up its ailing sugar industry

2021-12-11

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2021-12-11

Every year from October to December more than 1.5 million tonnes of sugar beets grown in Switzerland are harvested to supply the country’s sugar industry – an industry being kept alive by massive government subsidies. SWI swissinfo.ch reports from Aarberg, home to the country’s largest sugar factory.  

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Swiss tourists stayed close to home in 2020

2021-12-10

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2021-12-10

New data on Swiss travel habits during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic show fewer overnight stays, less air travel and a collapse in trips beyond the borders of Europe.

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Supply chain bottlenecks and Omicron hamper Swiss economic recovery

2021-12-09

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2021-12-09

Swiss economic experts expect a significant economic slowdown as supply chain bottlenecks, inflation and pandemic restrictions persist in many parts of the world.

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Underwater archaeology reveals buried secrets of a Swiss lake

2021-12-07

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The prehistoric past of the city of Lucerne is still largely unknown. However, the lake that surrounds it could yet harbour some clues. Archaeologists have long suspected that pile dwelling settlements existed around the lake by the city, but it was only during construction work in March 2020 that remains of a settlement were dug up from the bottom for the first time. This autumn, in view of the possible construction of an underground railway...

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Swiss trade union demands shorter work week

2021-12-07

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2021-12-07

Switzerland’s largest trade union issued a statement on Saturday demanding a “massive reduction” of working hours with full wage compensation for lower and income earners.

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Ransomware attacks on the rise in Switzerland

2021-12-06

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2021-12-06

Cyber-attacks are on the rise in Switzerland with 94 ransomware incidents reported in the first half of the year, according to the Sunday weekly Le Matin Dimanche.

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The highs and lows of living and working in Switzerland

2021-12-05

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2021-12-05

Last year foreign workers in Switzerland loved the quality of life but moaned about how hard it is to settle in. Have they since cracked how to befriend the allegedly surly Swiss? The Expat City Ranking 2021 lists both praise and peeves of newcomers.

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Two Swiss cities remain in top 10 most expensive globally

2021-12-04

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2021-12-04

The latest Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey of the prices of 200 goods and services in 173 cities placed both Geneva and Zurich in the top 10 most expensive cities in 2021. Overall, the cost of living across these 173 cities has risen by an average of 3.5%, the highest inflation seen in the last 5 years.

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Swiss commodity traders control 2.7 million hectares of land worldwide

2021-12-04

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2021-12-04

Research by investigative non-profit Public Eye has revealed that trading companies with a Swiss presence – or their subsidiaries – own over 550 plantations covering over 2.7 million hectares.

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Swiss banks implicated in trading cartel investigation

2021-12-03

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2021-12-03

The European Commission has ended an investigation of five banks, including UBS and Credit Suisse, who colluded in a foreign exchange spot trading cartel.

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Omicron exposes our pandemic failures

2021-12-02

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2021-12-02

They say a week is a long time in politics – last week we discovered it’s a long time in a pandemic as well. We started the week anxiously watching the rising Covid cases in Europe, and wondering what new restrictions might be heading our way for Christmas.

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Majority of Swiss in favour of compulsory vaccination, according to poll

2021-12-01

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2021-12-01

According to poll results published over the weekend, 53% of those surveyed in Switzerland were in favour of making Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory, a percentage that rose to 69% for those working in the health sector, reported 20 Minutes.

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Swiss politicians join calls for Beijing Olympic Games boycott

2021-11-30

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Swiss politicians are among those calling for a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China in February 2022, to protest China’s campaign of repression against Uyghurs and other minority groups, as well as its crackdown on Hong Kong. The alleged abuses against the mainly Muslim minority in Xinjiang include mass detention and torture. The US State Department and several European legislatures have classified the human rights abuses as...

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Average Swiss household income reaches nearly 115,000 francs

2021-11-29

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2021-11-29

The gross mean household income in Switzerland was CHF 114,984 (US$ 125,000) in 2019, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Overall, 40% of households in Switzerland had income over this mean while 60% brought in less.

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Demand for crypto stamp crashes post office’s online shop

2021-11-28

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2021-11-28

The launch of Swiss Post’s first “crypto” stamp has met with such high demand that the online shop was overwhelmed for several hours.

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Swiss Federal Council rejects two votes on pension reform

2021-11-28

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2021-11-28

This week, the Federal Council rejected two very different initiatives aimed at changing the state pension system. In common with much of the developed world, Switzerland is facing a large gap between the money required to fund state pensions and the money flowing in to pay for them, a challenge driven by increasing life expectancy, a rise in the number of pensioners as the population ages and the way the system is funded.

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Stable income but higher taxes for Swiss households

2021-11-27

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2021-11-27

The average private household in Switzerland spent about 31% of its income on taxes, social security and health insurance premiums in 2019.

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How Play Suisse made waves among the streamers

2021-11-26

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2021-11-26

In a little over a year Play Suisse, the streaming service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), has become a major player in the Swiss digital landscape, surpassing platforms like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. Critic Max Borg looks at the strengths and weaknesses of Play Suisse and its rivals.

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Geldcast Update: Lessons from interest rate problems

2021-11-25

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2021-11-25

The Australian central bank is being attacked by the markets and is losing control over interest rates. Something similar happened to the Swiss National Bank in 2015 with the minimum exchange rate for the euro. But what is behind this?

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