Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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UBS to close a sixth of its Swiss branches

2021-01-14

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2021-01-14

The closures will affect 44 of the bank’s 239 branches in the country, mainly smaller ones, UBS confirmed on Tuesday. The bank plans to continue beefing up its online offers.

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Covid: Switzerland grants approval for second vaccine

2021-01-13

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2021-01-13

On 12 January 2021, Swissmedic, the Swiss agency for the authorisation and supervision of pharmaceutical products, approved a second vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus for the Swiss market.

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Covid-hit restaurants call for ‘compensation now’

2021-01-13

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2021-01-13

Half of all hotel and restaurant businesses in Switzerland will go bankrupt by the end of March if they do not receive immediate financial compensation for the effects of coronavirus restrictions, warns the sector’s umbrella organisation.

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Swiss mom an ‘unofficial cultural ambassador’ in America

2021-01-12

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She kept dreaming of being on a plane that never reached its destination. Those dreams stopped about a year after moving to Colorado. “The pilot would drop us off in a desert, or in the Alps, or the luggage would blow away,” remembers Regula Grenier, who has lived in Colorado since 2007. She sees the end of those dreams as a sign that she’s finally found the right place to live. Originally from Einsiedeln in central Switzerland, Grenier quips...

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Covid: closing Swiss schools one of most effective measures, says study

2021-01-11

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2021-01-11

School closed
The number of Covid cases went down significantly in Switzerland during spring as a result of schools closing, according to a study by ETH Zurich, reported RTS. Researchers at the university analysed anonymised mobile phone data of 1.5 billion movements of the Swiss population between 10 February and 26 April 2020. They used this data to calculate how much certain measures reduced mobility and contact.

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Switzerland hit by widespread malware campaign

2021-01-10

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2021-01-10

Several security bodies in Switzerland have been targeted by emails that appear to come from official organisations such as banks or the police and contain a password for a zip file. When this file is opened, the computer becomes infected with a trojan called Emotet.

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Company bankruptcies fell sharply in Switzerland in 2020

2021-01-09

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2021-01-09

Despite the economic impacts of the coronavirus, significantly fewer Swiss companies went bankrupt in 2020 than the year before, according to the business data company Bisnode.

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Swiss rents and property prices up in 2020 due to pandemic

2021-01-08

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2021-01-08

The pandemic had a significant impact on Swiss real estate prices in 2020, according to industry experts.

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Two globally pioneering technologies among Swiss energy prize winners

2021-01-07

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2021-01-07

A floating solar power plant and a transport project using renewable hydrogen are among the winners of the 2021 Watt d’Or prize. 

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Charity works overtime to support Covid-stricken mountain firms

2021-01-07

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2021-01-07

A Swiss fund that supports small businesses in alpine regions bailed out 100 firms last year that were affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Schweizer Berghilfe (Swiss Mountain Aid) doled out an extra CHF2 million ($2.26 million) to support Covid-hit enterprises.

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A Swiss Rifle Club in America

2021-01-06

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Swiss rifles were coveted during the American revolutionary and civil wars. Today they’re used for fun by the Swiss Rifle Club of Minneapolis. In the late 1980s, a group of Swiss expats living in Minnesota – all employed by food technology company Bühler – decided to form a shooting club to maintain a tradition from the homeland. They made a deal with a local club willing to share its facilities, and got the green light from the Swiss military,...

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Covid-19 drives new car sales down to historic low

2021-01-06

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2021-01-06

The Swiss automobile industry registered its worst result in over 40 years, as the number of new cars hitting the road in 2020 fell by a quarter compared to the previous year.

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Covid: fast-spreading UK strain detected in seven Swiss cantons

2021-01-06

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2021-01-06

Laboratory confirmed cases, January 6
The fast spreading strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus discovered in the UK has now been detected in seven Swiss cantons, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), reported RTS.

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Immigration Zuwanderung in die Schweiz – Mehr Probleme oder mehr Wohlstand?

2021-01-05

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2021-01-05

Wanderung aus EU- und EFTA-Staaten
The Swiss automobile industry registered its worst result in over 40 years, as the number of new cars hitting the road in 2020 fell by a quarter compared to the previous year.

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Errors made managing pandemic, admits new Swiss president

2021-01-05

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2021-01-05

According to RTS, Guy Parmelin, Switzerland’s president since 1 January 2021, told the newspaper SonntagsBlick, that between July and September the government underestimated the pandemic.

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Covid: 9,665 new cases over 4 days in Switzerland

2021-01-05

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2021-01-05

Daily New Cases in Switzerland, January 4
Over the 4 days to 4 January 2020, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported  9,665 new cases and 189 deaths bringing Switzerland’s Covid-19 death toll to 7,831 (confirmed 7,271). 

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OECD should focus on climate crisis and inequality, says Hildebrand

2021-01-04

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2021-01-04

Former Swiss National Bank Chairman Philipp Hildebrand
Former Swiss National Bank Chairman Philipp Hildebrand has been nominated by Switzerland to lead the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), whose Secretary General Angel Gurria is leaving in May 2021.

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Swiss continue search for absconded British tourists

2020-12-31

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2020-12-31

Swiss cantons are still trying to identify tourists from the UK and South Africa who are staying in their resorts or who fled to escape Covid quarantine. Canton Valais, home to many popular ski resorts such as Verbier and Zermatt, is struggling. This content was published on December 30, 2020 - 14:03 December 30, 2020 - 14:03 Keystone-SDA/ts At the weekend an estimated 200 British tourists crept out of Verbier during the night, with hotel...

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Covid: negative test to enter France from Switzerland only required if resident in France

2020-12-31

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2020-12-31

On 19 December 2020, the French government advised against French residents travelling to Switzerland to ski and introduced rules that made returning difficult, including a requirement to show a negative Covid-19 test less than 72 hours old or to quarantine on arrival. © Anne Laure Affre | Dreamstime.comThe rule covered all those entering France from the cantons of Graubünden, Jura, Neuchâtel, Uri, Valais and Vaud. However, it was...

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‘Brexit envy’ grows in Switzerland

2020-12-30

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2020-12-30

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces a deal on December 24 Paul Grover Britain has finally negotiated a deal with the European Union. The European Court of Justice will not act as a court of arbitration. Some Swiss voices are now calling for Switzerland to get the same deal. The UK and the EU managed to agree on a last-minute trade deal after all. It will come into force provisionally on January 1. This will prevent customs duties...

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