Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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Coronavirus: could masks explain Switzerland’s sharply declining death rate?

In Switzerland, over the three months following 31 May 2020, there have been 11,306 recorded cases of Covid-19 and 91 deaths, a case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.8%. However, up to this date there were 30,862 cases and 1,920 deaths, a CFR of 6.2%. Why has Switzerland’s CFR fallen so steeply?

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Swiss regulator escalates probe into Credit Suisse

The Swiss financial supervisor FINMA says it has opened enforcement proceedings against Credit Suisse into the 2019 spying affair that toppled the bank’s leadership and tarnished its reputation.

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Government exempts high-emission cars from Swiss climate goals

The Swiss government is easing the pressure on the automotive industry to reduce CO2 emissions, reports Sunday newspaper Le Matin Dimanche.

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Chinese-owned Swissport agrees emergency takeover

A consortium of investors has agreed a €800 million (CHF860 million) bailout of Chinese-owned airport services company Swissport. Revenues at the company have nosedived since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Geneva Airport expects 23 percent fewer passengers in 2021

Geneva Airport officials say the shockwaves of the Covid-19 pandemic will reverberate into next year, with the number of passengers flying to and from the airport expected to be down by almost a quarter compared with pre-coronavirus levels, according to Swiss public radio, RTS.

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Trading platforms profit from pandemic chaos

While Covid-19 has been wreaking havoc on the economy, many banks and trading platforms have recorded bumper results. Profits were boosted by elevated trading activity, but future prospects are mixed depending on the type of financial player.

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Coronavirus: protestors march against Covid-19 measures in Zurich

On Saturday, around one thousand people took to the streets of Zurich to protest against government rules aimed at slowing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to RTS.

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Swiss PostBus faces lawsuit in Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein transport companies are claiming CHF35 million ($38.7 million) in damages against Switzerland’s state-owned PostBus over alleged unfair business practices.

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Swiss economist says Covid-19 ‘winners’ should pay more tax

Companies that netted their best-ever earnings during the coronavirus crisis should be subject to extra tax, finds one of Switzerland’s top economists.

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Coronavirus: UK puts Switzerland back on Quarantine List

Travellers from Switzerland, Jamaica and Czech Republic who enter the UK from 4 am on Saturday 29 August 2020, must self-isolate for two weeks, the UK government announced this evening. The UK considers imposing quarantine when a country’s rate of infection exceeds 20 cases per 100,000 people over 7 days.

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Swiss Private Banks Brace for Coronavirus Impact

The Swiss private banking sector saw a resurgence in fortunes last year but faces an uncertain future as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to play havoc with financial markets. Favourable market conditions in 2019 allowed the 84 banks surveyed by KPMG to grow client assets by 14%, according to a recently published report by the audit firm.

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New Swiss Rail Timetable Speeds up Cross-Border Trips

Next year the train connections from Switzerland to Germany and Italy will be faster. On Wednesday the Swiss Federal Railways unveiled the timetable for 2021. In addition to various inland tweaks, the new schedule brings swifter links from Zurich to Milan (3:17) and Munich (ca. 4hrs). From Zurich there will be ten direct trains to Milan; from Basel, five.

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Belgium Investigates Credit Suisse over hidden Bank Accounts

The investigation by federal prosecutors is at the information-gathering stage, looking for evidence of money laundering and whether the Swiss bank acted as an illegal financial intermediary, a spokesman for the prosecutors said on Monday. However, no formal charges have been brought.

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First Skydive from a Solar Electric Plane Accomplished in Switzerland

The world’s first skydive off the solar-powered electric plane SolarStratos has been completed successfully in western Switzerland. SolarStratos took off from the aerodrome in Payerne at 7:40am on Tuesday with two people on board: test pilot Miguel Iturmendi and co-pilot Raphaël Domjan.

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Why is Switzerland so expensive?

You might have experienced it first-hand, or even just heard the legendary tales: Switzerland is eye-wateringly pricey. But do the people earning a Swiss wage see these sky-high costs the same way? Get this question and many others answered in this episode of ‘Switzerland Explained’ by SWI swissinfo.ch.

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Unemployment up in second quarter of 2020 in Switzerland

Switzerland’s unemployment rate rose from 4.2% to 4.6% in the second quarter of 2020, according to a recent survey that measures unemployment more broadly than Switzerland’s official unemployment measure. The method used for these calculations is the one defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which includes all available job seekers – ILO definition of unemployment.

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Shoppers in Basel must wear face masks to reduce Covid-19 risks

Basel City has become the first German-speaking canton to require customers to wear face masks in shops to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

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Anti-corona protest planned later this month in Zurich

After protests in May 2020, an eclectic group of anti-corona protestors is planning to protest against vaccines, masks and other measures aimed at limiting the spread of the virus on 29 August 2020 in Zurich, according to the newspaper Le Matin.

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Coronavirus: a quarter of Swiss employees don’t want to be vaccinated, suggests survey

A survey run by the Bern University of Applied Sciences on behalf of the trade union Travail suisse suggests a significant portion of Switzerland’s workforce does not want to be vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, reports the newspaper 20 Minutes.

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How do you separate the good companies from the bad apples?

Our regular analysis of what the biggest global companies in Switzerland are up to. This week: dubious gold origins, luxury watch straps, and vaccine deals. Gold refineries are under scrutiny for sourcing gold from Dubai traders with questionable ties to illegal mines in Africa. But is it fair to lump all refineries into one basket of bad apples?

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