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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SwissCovid app now available for download

2020-06-28

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2020-06-28

On 25 June 2020, Switzerland’s contact tracing app, known as SwissCovid, became available for download. Created by a group of specialists at EPFL led by Marcel Salathé, a professor of digital epidemiology, the app allows chains of infection to be traced by informing people if they have been in contact with anyone infected. Countries, like South Korea, that have done a good job of this have been able to quickly isolate infected people and halt the...

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Hands-off regulation of sustainable finance draws mixed response

2020-06-27

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2020-06-27

Extra rules will only be imposed on the sustainable finance sector if banks fail to properly police themselves, says the Swiss government. The hands-off regulatory approach to ethical investing has been welcomed by financial players, but criticised by NGOs. Unveiling a report on sustainable finance on Friday, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said legislators would stay in the background as a last resort measure.

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Swiss gold industry oversight too weak, say auditors

2020-06-27

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2020-06-27

The Swiss gold refining industry has once again come under scrutiny with a report that criticises the lack of control over imports of the precious metal. The Federal Audit Office says it is too easy for illegal imports to enter the country and that sanctions are inadequate.

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Audit office denies ‘mass phenomenon’ of Covid-19 credit abuse

2020-06-26

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2020-06-26

An interim report on government pay-outs to businesses during the Covid-19 crisis has revealed that there is suspected abuse in less than 1% of cases. Тhe Federal Audit Office investigated some 94,000 coronavirus loans amounting to CHF11.4 billion ($12 billion). It found indications of abuse in about 400 cases, which amounts to about CHF88 million in guarantees.

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Job postings fall by 27 percent due to pandemic

2020-06-26

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2020-06-26

New job offers have dropped by over a quarter in Switzerland due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with hotel, restaurant, and personal services sectors worst hit. Between April and June, job postings went down by 27%, the human resources firm Adecco Switzerland reported on Tuesday.

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A Swiss-Japanese alliance that has thrived in the crisis

2020-06-25

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2020-06-25

It was the start of one of the most unusual cross-cultural marriages when Roche bought a controlling stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical for $1.4bn back in 2002, promising arm’s length management. In the course of the 18 months of negotiations it took to reach a deal, Chugai, a Japanese pioneer in biotechnology, presented a single sheet of paper with a list of conditions it would not budge on, the main ones being management autonomy and the continued...

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UBS raises USD 440 million for Rockefeller sustainable investment fund

2020-06-25

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2020-06-25

Zurich, June 24 2020 – UBS is investing in Rockefeller Asset Management's Global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Equity fund, broadening the sustainable investment opportunities that it offers to clients. UBS, the world's largest global wealth manager, has allocated directly to the fund through its 100% sustainable multi-asset portfolio, which surpassed USD 10 billion in size earlier this year.

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Swiss public transport expected to lose CHF1.5 billion due to Covid-19

2020-06-23

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2020-06-23

The collapse in the number of commuters and other passengers on Swiss trains and buses due to the pandemic is likely to leave a big hole in the finances of public transport companies. The Le Matin Dimanche and SonntagsZeitung newspapers reported on Sunday that Alliance SwissPass, the national public transport organisation, expects the number of yearly national train passes to fall by 6% and half-price annual passes to drop by 1% by the end of the...

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Glencore faces Swiss probe over alleged Congo corruption

2020-06-23

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2020-06-23

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has opened a criminal probe into Swiss-based commodity trader and miner Glencore over alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it mines copper and cobalt.

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Coronavirus: Swiss authorities not open enough in early weeks, says medical expert

2020-06-22

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2020-06-22

The Swiss authorities should have been more open about what they did and didn’t know about the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the early stages, according to Bertrand Kiefer, doctor, ethicist and editor of the Swiss Medical Review.

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Swiss National Bank forecasts deflation until 2022

2020-06-22

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2020-06-22

On 18 June 2020, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said it would maintain its negative rate of interest (-0.75%) and remains willing to intervene more strongly in the foreign exchange market.

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Coronavirus: cheap drug substantially cuts severe case death risk, according to large UK trial

2020-06-21

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2020-06-21

A trial at Oxford University suggests an existing low cost drug can cut the risk of death from Covid-19 substantially. Tests involving 6,000 hospitalised Covid-19 patients suggest the drug can cut the risk of death for those on ventilators from 40% to 28%. For patients needing oxygen the risk of death could be cut from 25% to 20%.

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Coronavirus: the rising number of mild cases with symptoms lasting months

2020-06-20

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2020-06-20

Those with mild Covid-19 symptoms are supposed to recover after two weeks. However, a rising number of relatively young people with mild cases report symptoms months later. Johns Hopkins Medicine says that those with mild cases of COVID-19 appear to recover within one to two weeks. For severe cases, recovery may take six weeks or more.

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Coronavirus: national lockdown not part of Switzerland’s second wave response plan

2020-06-19

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2020-06-19

Switzerland’s federal government is against imposing nationwide restrictions to slow the spread of a second wave on infections, according to the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. The federal government plan, which is under development, is more regional than the response to the first wave of infections and focuses decision making power at the cantonal level, reported the newspaper.

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Coronavirus: latest antibody study suggests 10.8 percent of Geneva infected in first wave

2020-06-18

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2020-06-18

A recently published update to the ongoing study in Geneva to assess the extent of SARS-CoV-2 infection suggests 10.8% of the population may have been infected in the first wave of infections. The study, which tests a sample of the population over time for IgG SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, started in early April 2020. The latest figures come from the fifth week of testing, which was concluded on 9 May 2020. 

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SoftBank invests in Credit Suisse funds financing technology bets

2020-06-17

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2020-06-17

SoftBank has quietly poured more than $500m into Credit Suisse investment funds that in turn made big bets on the debt of struggling start-ups backed by the Japanese technology conglomerate’s Vision Fund. SoftBank made the investment into the Swiss bank’s $7.5bn range of supply-chain finance funds, said three people familiar with the matter.

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Fintech firm Achiko hits Cayman-related compliance problems

2020-06-16

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2020-06-16

Cayman Islands fintech company Achiko has run into “compliance issues” just months after listing on the Swiss stock exchange. The firm has called a meeting of shareholders this week to approve a plan to create a Swiss company and re-list the shares from this entity.

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100 Swiss watch brands risk extinction due to coronavirus, expert says

2020-06-15

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2020-06-15

The coronavirus crisis could eliminate up to 100 Swiss watch brands from the market, according to an expert interviewed by the German-language weekly NZZamSonntag. Production came to a standstill during the pandemic and the most important export markets collapsed. Whether tourists with purchasing power will return to Switzerland remains in question. The watch industry, notes the newspaper, has been “caught in the perfect storm”.

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Swiss parliament votes in favour of flight tax

2020-06-15

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2020-06-15

A majority of Switzerland’s parliament voted in favour of introducing a tax on flights departing from Switzerland. 132 voted in favour of the tax, with 65 against. The tax would range from CHF 30 to CHF 120 depending on the distance and class of travel, according to 20 Minutes.

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Coronavirus: new cases stable with small rise in deaths in Switzerland

2020-06-14

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2020-06-14

In the seven days to 12 June 2020, the number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections recorded in Switzerland was 127. A similar number of new cases was recorded in the week before (108) and the week before that (121), according to Worldinfometer.com.

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