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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‘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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Economic outlook for Switzerland in 2021

2020-12-30

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2020-12-30

Have the Swiss and European Union economies already been through the worst, or will the pandemic cause more damage in 2021? Keystone / Martin Ruetschi Lockdown, home office, travel bans. The pandemic has shaken up the economy, but its disruptive power is having a selective effect. While the pharmaceutical industry is sailing through the crisis unscathed, the watch industry is being hit harder than any time since the last world war. What is the...

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Swiss want more digital services from the state

2020-12-30

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2020-12-30

Digitalisation is increasing pressure on state authorities, with almost three-quarters of Swiss expecting more digital services from the authorities, according to a survey by consultants Deloitte. Whether it’s paying parking fines or obtaining motorway toll stickers, Swiss want to be able to deal with such services online. A third of those surveyed could even imagine getting married via video conferencing.A large majority of the population would...

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Covid: UK tourists break Covid quarantine in Verbier

2020-12-29

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2020-12-29

Shortly after the UK announced it was struggling to contain a new faster spreading strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Swiss government announced a backdated 10-day quarantine requirement for UK arrivals. This affected hundreds of UK tourists already in the winter resort of Verbier. Verbier, SwitzerlandAround 400 UK tourists, who had arrived after the retrospective 14 December 2020 quarantine cut off date, were staying the Swiss resort....

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Can 3D printing save the coral reefs?

2020-12-29

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The oceans produce one in every two oxygen atoms. Coral reefs are like the ocean's rainforest. But it's disappearing, and fast. Ulrike Pfreundt has made it her life's work to find a solution. Pfreundt is a marine biologist at the Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich who gets emotional when she talks about coral death. Through 3D printing, she's found a way to make artificial reefs and replace some of the coral that's being lost by providing...

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‘We were too lax’ admits Swiss health minister on Covid-19

2020-12-29

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2020-12-29

In an interview with Swiss public television, SRF, Health Minister Alain Berset has acknowledged that Switzerland made mistakes in managing the coronavirus outbreak.

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Why the rock band Queen loves Montreux

2020-12-25

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The quiet lakeside town of Montreux has become a mecca for Queen fans. They make pilgrimages here each year to leave messages at Freddie Mercury's statue and join in the annual birthday celebrations for the late star, who died in 1991. Now there's even a Freddie Tour - you can follow in the footsteps of the flamboyant singer and visit the Studio Experience in the town's casino. That exhibition is based on the recording studios Queen owned, where...

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Swiss groups argue about parking spaces

2020-12-25

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2020-12-25

Even good drivers might struggle to fit their cars into the allotted parking spaces in Switzerland. Yet Swiss cities don’t necessarily want to provide larger spaces.

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Europe’s ski market crushed by Covid-19

2020-12-24

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2020-12-24

Gérard Brudi, who rents two apartments to winter workers in the popular French ski resort of Val Thorens, has not had a single booking this year.

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Switzerland bans flights from UK over new coronavirus

2020-12-23

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2020-12-23

Switzerland has joined other European countries in suspending flights from the United Kingdom and South Africa after reports of a fast-spreading new coronavirus strain.

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Covid: restaurants and cafés to close across French-speaking Switzerland

2020-12-23

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2020-12-23

Restaurants and cafés will progressively close once more across French-speaking Switzerland starting in the canton of Jura on Tuesday 22 December 2020.

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Swiss style bakery in Boston

2020-12-22

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Swiss couple Helene and Thomas Stohr run their own bakery in Massachusetts. Every day, they produce an array of Swiss and European treats, including croissants, jelly doughnuts and braided bread. From a young age, the Stohrs dreamed of seeing the world, so they left Lucerne for North America 20 years ago. Thomas, a professional baker, worked in Canada and the US for various eateries, including Mövenpick, while Helene looked after their sons Tobias...

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Credit Suisse chief vows a ‘clean slate’ in 2021

2020-12-22

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2020-12-22

The chief executive of Credit Suisse has vowed the bank will start 2021 with a “clean slate” after a torrid year that began with a damaging corporate spying scandal and was punctuated by embarrassing fallout from legacy compliance and lending failures.

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Covid: retroactive quarantine for those arriving from the UK and South Africa

2020-12-22

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2020-12-22

Following the discovery of a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus in the UK and South Africa, the Federal Council today decided to take steps to prevent the further spread of this new virus strain.

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First Covid-19 vaccine approved for Swiss use

2020-12-21

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2020-12-21

Swiss health regulator Swissmedic has approved the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech. According to the Swiss authorities, the level of protection is over 90% a week after the second dose.

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Covid: Switzerland suspends flights from the UK and South Africa

2020-12-21

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2020-12-21

Late on 20 December 2020, the Swiss government decided to suspend flights to Switzerland from the UK and South Africa following news of the discovery a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

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Countries still far from achieving sustainable development

2020-12-19

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2020-12-19

The latest United Nations Human Development Report has found that countries, including Switzerland, still struggle to achieve high levels of human development without straining the planet.

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Covid, December 18: 22 percent of Geneva tests positive for antibodies

2020-12-18

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2020-12-18

An update to an antibody study conducted by HUG and UNIGE suggests that 22% of Geneva’s population had been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus by December 2020.

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Large government budget deficit in 2021 for Switzerland

2020-12-17

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2020-12-17

On 16 December 2020, Switzerland’s Council of States, the nation’s upper house, accepted a 2021 budget deeply in the red following its acceptance last week by the National Council.

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Covid: Swiss becoming more skeptical of vaccines

2020-12-17

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2020-12-17

Mistrust of vaccines against Covid-19 continues to rise in Switzerland, according to a recently published survey.

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