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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Using Swiss technology to store CO2 in Iceland

2021-09-10

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2021-09-10

The Swiss company Climeworks has just opened in Iceland the world’s largest plant for the capture and permanent storage of carbon dioxide from the air. This technology is deemed essential for combating global warming, yet it raises some questions.

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Swiss government extends use of Covid certificates from Monday

2021-09-09

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2021-09-09

On 8 September 2012, the Swiss government decided to extends the use of Covid certificates. From Monday 13 September 2021, a certificate will be required to enter bars, restaurants, museums, cinemas, theatres and pools, a system already operating in numerous countries, such as Italy.

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Unions demand financial reward for efforts during Covid crisis

2021-09-08

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2021-09-08

The Trade Union Federation has called for a blanket salary rise for all employees as the Swiss economy recovers from the Covid-19 crisis.

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A giant water battery in the Swiss Alps

2021-09-07

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The amount of electricity that can be stored thanks to the new pumped-storage and turbine power station in Nant de Drance, canton Valais, could charge more than 400,000 electric car batteries. Its director explains the role of this "water battery" for electricity supply and grid stabilisation in Switzerland and Europe. “The electric storage capacity of the reservoir surpasses that of 400,000 electric car batteries,” explains Alain...

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An alternative life of Swiss luxury

2021-08-31

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Thomas Brunschwig leads an unconventional life. He is a self-confessed outsider who has found his sustainable, spiritual paradise in a Bernese farmhouse filled with various Indian and Chinese instruments and sculptures – and four zebu cattle. The zebu produce neither milk nor meat. In fact he says the only useful thing they produce is dung, the fuel of fire in the Vedic religion. “Technically, if I calculate the income from selling dried cow pats,...

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Afghan women face an uncertain future

2021-08-27

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One of the big questions since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan is what will become of Afghan women. When the militant group last ruled the country, women and girls were barred from schools, universities and jobs, and had to veil from head to toe in public. The Swiss-based non-profit group Geneva Call has been active in Afghanistan for several years, trying to improve the protection of women in particular. Marie Lequin, Head of the Eurasia...

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Covid vaccinations in schools

2021-08-24

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Aargau is the first Swiss canton to offer mobile vaccination centres for older pupils on school grounds. The aim is to boost the vaccination rate among 16- to 19-year-olds in the canton, which currently stands at 43%, as well as to stem the number of coronavirus outbreaks in schools. More than 200 pupils tested positive for the virus in the first week of term. Schools in the northern canton were the first to go back after the summer holidays on...

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Sharp jump in Swiss Covid-19 intensive care patients

2021-08-20

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2021-08-20

The latest figures on Covid-19 patients in intensive care in Swiss hospitals show a steep rise in numbers.

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Big Swiss companies obliged to report on climate risks from 2024

2021-08-19

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2021-08-19

From 2024, large Swiss firms will be legally bound to report on their climate-related risks. The government has now published guidelines on which companies and which risks will be involved.

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Deepfake hunters

2021-08-17

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Deepfakes are often used in ads and films, for instance when actors play younger versions of their characters. However, the technology also offers high potential for misuse. A spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne is using AI and deep learning to create software to help specialists detect fraud. Artificial intelligence helps detect anomalies inside images. The software then marks any manipulated areas. Detectors are also...

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Can China help African cocoa producers outmanoeuvre Big Chocolate?

2021-08-17

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2021-08-17

In a bid to grab a bigger slice of the chocolate pie, cocoa-producing countries Ivory Coast and Ghana are turning to China for funding and a new marketplace. The move could pose a threat to the Swiss chocolate industry’s profit margins and its supply of raw materials. 

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Businesses urged to back Swiss Covid-19 vaccination strategy

2021-08-16

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2021-08-16

Health Minister Alain Berset has urged companies to back the government’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign, arguing it is in the economy's interest to get as many people vaccinated as possible.

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Covid: second vaccine approved for use on 12 to 17 year olds in Switzerland

2021-08-13

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2021-08-13

Swissmedic, Switzerland’s drug approval agency, extended approval of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for use on 12 to 17 year olds this week.

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Risk of housing bubble in Switzerland persists

2021-08-11

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2021-08-11

A report by the leading Swiss bank UBS has found an increased risk of a real estate bubble forming in Switzerland’s housing market. The UBS Swiss real estate bubble index has risen from 1.78 to 1.90 points, in the second quarter of 2021, remaining in the ‘risk zone’, according to a report published on Tuesday.

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Chocolate, gold, human rights: what’s the Swiss Connection?

2021-08-10

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2021-08-10

We take a deep dive into what one country – Switzerland – is doing to honour the United Nations principles on business respects human rights.

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Unvaccinated 80 times more likely to catch Covid-19, finds Swiss study

2021-08-08

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2021-08-08

Recent analysis of data done in the Swiss canton of Vaud found rate of Covid-19 was 83 times higher among the unvaccinated than those who had received two shots of vaccine, reported RTS.

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Zurich airport: 5 percent to 10 percent of passengers not boarding due to Covid document issues

2021-08-07

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2021-08-07

During July 2021, around 5% to 10% of long-haul passengers, many in transit, were unable to depart from Zurich airport because their Covid-19 documents did not comply with destination country regulations, reported the newspaper Le Temps.

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Swiss heirs must repay 15 years of illegally claimed welfare

2021-08-06

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2021-08-06

In 2016, the social security office in Zurich discovered a concealed bank account containing CHF 1 million belonging to a deceased man who had received welfare payments for 13 years, reported RTS.

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Credit Suisse to face ‘tuna bonds’ trial

2021-08-05

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2021-08-05

The bank will face a trial over its role in Mozambique’s $2 billion (CHF1.8 billion) “tuna bonds” scandal, a fresh blow as it struggles to shake off a succession of crises that have plagued the group in recent years.

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Swiss think it’s vital that other people reduce CO2 emissions

2021-08-04

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2021-08-04

A majority (70%) of Swiss believe it’s important to avoid emissions in their everyday lives, although fewer are likely to back up their views with action, according to a survey.

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