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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Geneva to ban Uber if it doesn’t change its operating model

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

After a legal analyis the government of the canton of Geneva has decided that drivers of the ride hailing service are employees rather than independent contractors, effectively banning Uber from operating under its current model. In an interview with RTS, Mauro Poggia, a lawyer and Geneva state councillor, said that Uber is a transport company and as such must employ its drivers.

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Business Is An Adventure returns to South Africa

2019-11-08

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Sir Richard Branson, in partnership with Investec, hosted the ‘Business Is An Adventure’ event in Johannesburg on Thursday, 7 November 2019. This inspiring gathering, that was last held in South Africa in 2017, brought together masters and mavericks of business for lively debates and inspirational entrepreneurial insights. Highlights of the ‘fireside chats’ are captured in …

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Using lake water to help reduce Switzerland’s carbon footprint

2019-11-08

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2019-11-08

Swiss lakes offer huge potential as renewable energy sources that can be used to cool and heat buildings. Geneva is expanding a pioneering thermal exchange project to help meet its climate goals, while other regions are taking the plunge. After transport, the second and third biggest sources of national greenhouse gas emissions are Swiss industry (20% of total in 2017) and households (18%).

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Business Is An Adventure with Sir Richard Branson

2019-11-07

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Virgin Atlantic, in partnership with Investec, presents Business Is An Adventure. Headlined by Sir Richard Branson and featuring other high level entrepreneurs and thought leaders.⁣ ⁣ Catch Sir Richard Branson (Founder, Virgin Group) and Stephen Koseff (Co-Founder, Investec) in a ‘fireside chat’ with moderator Redi Tlhabi, giving us their takes on national and international prospects …

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Swiss train problems being solved, says manufacturer

2019-11-07

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2019-11-07

Bombardier says it expects to deliver all 62 double-decker express trains ordered by Swiss Federal Railways by summer 2021. Deliveries should have been made as early as 2013 but have been fraught with technical problems. The trains were ordered in 2010 for a total of CHF 1.9 billion ($1.9 billion), making it the largest contract in the history of rail transport.

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Why is solar power struggling to take off in Switzerland?

2019-11-07

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2019-11-07

Solar energy is the main source of renewable energy in Switzerland, after hydroelectric power. But its potential is far from being exploited, according to industry experts. In 1982 Switzerland became the first country in Europe to connect a photovoltaic plant to the electricity network. Ten years later it inaugurated what at the time was the continent’s largest solar power station.

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Nestlé accused of sourcing palm oil linked to forest fires in Indonesia

2019-11-06

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2019-11-06

The environmental group Greenpeace claims that the Swiss food giant procured palm oil from suppliers linked to around 9,700 fire hotspots in Indonesia this year. A Greenpeace reportexternal link released on Monday examines the supply chain of four major food companies – Nestlé, Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Mondelēz – and compares them to palm oil suppliers that are under investigation for starting illegal fires.

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There’s plastic in your beer: here’s why

2019-11-06

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Plastic is all around us: it’s so present in our everyday lives we don’t just find it in our cupboards and on our desks, we even find it inside human bodies. A study published by the University of Newcastle found plastic traces all the way inside our muscles. For a material that’s so intrinsic to the way we live, recycling plastics is surprisingly difficult, and still seems to be a riddle in Switzerland. As waste management is in each canton or...

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There’s plastic in your beer: here’s why

2019-11-06

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Plastic is all around us: it’s so present in our everyday lives we don’t just find it in our cupboards and on our desks, we even find it inside human bodies. A study published by the University of Newcastle found plastic traces all the way inside our muscles. For a material that’s so intrinsic to … Continue reading »

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Would an Uber ban in Geneva push other cities to treat drivers as employees?

2019-11-06

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2019-11-06

It’s not the first time Uber has faced some bumps on the road in canton Geneva. But the latest move requiring the ride-hailing company to treat drivers as employees could spell big changes for the company. Will Uber call it quits or set a precedent for other cities?

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‘Farinet’ local currency to be withdrawn from circulation

2019-11-05

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2019-11-05

The Farinet – a local currency introduced in canton Valais in 2017 – is to be withdrawn from circulation at the end of 2019 after failing to stimulate the regional economy as hoped. Farinet banknotes were introduced in Valais in western Switzerland in spring 2017. But on Tuesday the association behind the currency announced it planned to withdraw it at the end of this year.

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Parties’ position on gender equality

2019-11-05

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On October 20, a new parliament was elected and never before have so many women been chosen as parliamentarians. While their election can be viewed as a good thing in terms of gender balance, it’s not automatically good news for gender equality issues, as each party has its own manifesto and position on matters such … Continue...

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Switzerland’s growth hampered by trade tensions, economic slowdown

2019-11-05

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2019-11-05

Trade tensions coupled with a slowdown in Europe are likely to take a toll on the Swiss economy over the next two years, the OECD forecasts. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revised its growth forecasts downwards for Switzerland. It also recommended Switzerland raise its retirement age.

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Why Nestlé won’t meet its zero-deforestation pledge

2019-11-04

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2019-11-04

When it came under fire from environmental groups over its harvesting of palm oil, Swiss food giant Nestlé committed to eliminating deforestation from its supply chain by next year. But it will take another three years to come close to accomplishing that goal.

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Swiss government cuts drug prices by 100 million francs

2019-11-03

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2019-11-03

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recently announced it had reduced the price Swiss healthcare providers and patients will pay for 257 drugs by 16.3%. These lower prices, which take affect on 1 December 2019, are expected to save CHF 100 million annually.

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Minimum Swiss internet speed to triple in 2020

2019-11-03

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2019-11-03

The Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, has confirmed a decision made by parliament to raise the minimum speed of broadband internet connections in Switzerland. From 1 January 2020, the minimum download speed specified in Switzerland’s universal service agreement with Swisscom will rise from 3 to 10 megabits per second (Mbits/s) and the minimum upload speed will rise from 0.3 to 1 Mbit/s.

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Switzerland calls time on phone booths

2019-11-02

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2019-11-02

The last telephone box in French-speaking Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva, was dismantled on Thursday. Swisscom will remove the one in the country – in Baden, northern Switzerland – on November 28. An era in the history of Swiss telecommunications is thus coming to an end, an era that witnessed millions of declarations of love, tears and banal conversations in the little cabins that once stood on almost every street corner.

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Swiss commission supports new laws to protect whistleblowers

2019-11-01

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2019-11-01

A commission of the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, is in favour of new rules to protect whistleblowers. The proposed rules, which would help to protect those who expose secretive information or activity that is deemed illegal or unethical, were supported by 6 commission votes to 2 with 4 abstentions.

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Credit Suisse results impress despite damaging spy scandal

2019-10-31

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2019-10-31

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam has reiterated that he had nothing to do with the spying scandal that recently rocked the bank. Thiam insisted that the debacle has not damaged business as the bank presented better than expected third quarter results.

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Campaign targets online gambling addicts

2019-10-29

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2019-10-29

An awareness campaign has been launched to help addicted online gamblers in Switzerland cope with their compulsive behaviour. An independent foundation said it published a special digital programme, Gambling without Addiction, with the authorities in most cantons of German-speaking Switzerland.

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