Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

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Swiss fintech firms venture deeper into Middle East

2020-02-07

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2020-02-07

Swiss fintech company Instimatch has launched into the Middle East, having won a licence to operate in Qatar, and signed up its first Kuwaiti bank. The mineral and cash-rich region is proving a magnet for financial innovation from Switzerland. Instimatchexternal link’s digital platform directly connects deep-pocketed corporate, financial and municipal lenders with global investments.

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Three Credit Suisse investors back Tidjane Thiam in board battle

2020-02-06

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2020-02-06

Credit Suisse’s top shareholders have thrown their support behind chief executive Tidjane Thiam and called on chairman Urs Rohner to quit, in a high-stakes power struggle at the Swiss bank following a spy scandal last year. Relations between Mr Rohner and Mr Thiam have been increasingly strained since revelations that Credit Suisse hired a corporate espionage company to follow Iqbal Khan, a former executive who defected to arch-rival UBS.

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Food bank: a third of Swiss food ‘goes to waste’

2020-02-06

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2020-02-06

About a third of the food produced for Swiss consumption went to waste last year, according to the food bank foundation Schweizer Tafe/Table Suisse. That is the equivalent of 2.6 million tonnes of food. Five percent of the losses occurred in the retail trade. The foundation collected 3,820 tonnes of food that was not for sale but still in perfect condition – a 5.6% increase relative to 2018.

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Study spotlights niche market for solo Chinese tourists

2020-02-05

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2020-02-05

The tourism industry in central Switzerland could benefit from increased efforts to focus on individual holidaymakers from China, according to a study. A report by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Artsexternal link found that guests from China travelling individually in Europe take a special interest in culinary events and that they are likely to receive information about new offers via their mobile phones. 

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Julius Bär to cut 300 jobs after 2019 profit drop

2020-02-03

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2020-02-03

Julius Bar
Swiss wealth manager Julius Bär will cut 300 jobs this year, its chief executive said on Monday, as it looks to boost profitability after a double-digit percentage earnings fall in 2019. The private bank wants to boost profitability with a new three-year strategy to deal with continued margin pressures, Philipp Rickenbacher said.

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Sport generates billions for Swiss economy, study finds

2020-01-30

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2020-01-30

Sports-related activities are worth CHF22.2 billion ($22.8 billion) a year to the Swiss economy, a national report has revealed. Overall, sport accounts for 1.7% of Swiss gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report external linkby the Federal Office of Sport released on Tuesday which uses 2017 figures. This is comparable to the machine tools or metal products sectors.

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Swiss increasingly concerned about quality of the environment

2020-01-30

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2020-01-30

Dirt, noise, radiation, climate, loss of species: the Swiss population believes that environmental pollution has increased and continues to increase. Some 61% perceive this as a very serious or quite serious problem. In 2015, only 39% were so pessimistic.

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Swiss venture capital funding breaks CHF2 billion barrier

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

Swiss start-ups and young companies attracted nearly CHF2.3 billion ($2.4 billion) from deep-pocketed investors last year. The figure is nearly double the CHF1.2 billion collected in 2018 and sets a new record. New ventures in the ICT and fintech sectors received the largest slice of funding (CHF1.2 billion), but financial support for early stage biotech firms also received a significant boost (CHF625 million), according to the annual report from...

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Foreign demand remains high for luxury Swiss-made watches

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

Swiss watch manufacturers exported timepieces worth over CHF21 billion ($21.7 billion) last year – the industry’s third-best result ever. Watchmaking is Switzerland’s third-biggest export sector after pharmaceutical and machine tools. Almost 95% of production is sold abroad, the majority to Asia.

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Zurich Airport looks to Asia to expand its airports business

2020-01-28

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2020-01-28

The company recently won a bid to build and run an airport near India’s capital and has its sights set on other emerging markets in Asia. In November 2019, Zürich Flughafen AG (Zurich Airport) won a 40-year contract to build and operate the planned Noida International Airport in Jewar, located around 80km from the country’s capital, New Delhi. 

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City rent prices leap despite Swiss-wide vacancies rising

2020-01-28

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2020-01-28

Rental prices in Swiss cities became markedly more expensive last year even though vacancy rates are increasing in Switzerland. The latest study from real estate portal Homegate.ch reveals the disparity between urban and rural areas.

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Restructuring at Philip Morris to hit 265 jobs

2020-01-27

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2020-01-27

Tobacco giant Philip Morris says 265 jobs in Switzerland will be affected by restructuring plans, of which almost two-thirds of posts may be transferred to other European sites. After much uncertainty and news speculation, Philip Morris (PMI) confirmed on Monday its restructuring plans at operational centres in Lausanne and Neuchâtel in French-speaking western Switzerland.

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Swiss Economics Minister wants to move US trade deal forward

2020-01-27

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2020-01-27

Talks with US President Donald Trump this week at WEF were useful, says Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin, who is cautiously optimistic about moving trade negotiations forward. “Trump had questions for me. He asked me about trade,” said Parmelin in an interview with the Sonntagszeitung newspaper. “I also informed him about Swiss investments in the United States.

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Federer and world’s smallest gold coin go up for sale 

2020-01-26

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2020-01-26

Another 37,000 coins featuring tennis star Roger Federer – the first living person to receive that honor – went on sale on Thursday, according to Swissmint. Also up for grabs is the “smallest gold coin in the world” inspired by Albert Einstein and a bimetallic coin featuring the European hare.

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Swiss businesses and start-ups set record in 2019

2020-01-25

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2020-01-25

Entrepreneurs are thriving in Switzerland, with a record number of companies launched in 2019 and unprecedented investment pumped into start-ups. Switzerland saw 44,482 companies founded last year, the highest number to date and a 3% increase on 2018, according to the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. Investments in start-ups also grew strongly in 2019, topping CHF2 billion ($2.06 billion) for the first time.

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Swiss watchdog bans former bank CEO over insider trading

2020-01-24

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2020-01-24

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has banned the former chief executive officer of a Swiss bank from financial activities over a “serious case of insider trading”. FINMA also ordered the confiscation of CHF730,000 ($752,000) of “unlawfully generated profits” from the ex-CEO, whom FINMA did not name.

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Switzerland remains world’s most attractive country for skilled workers

2020-01-24

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2020-01-24

Switzerland continues to lead the world in talent competitiveness, having held the number one spot since the annual Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) was launched in 2013. According to the 2020 indexexternal link, the three main reasons for Switzerland’s top position are the country’s high quality of life (interesting jobs, high salaries and good career opportunities), its dual education system which combines education with vocational...

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Swiss firms lauded for climate protection measures

2020-01-22

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2020-01-22

Nestlé, Givaudan, Panalpina and the Bern Cantonal Bank are among 179 companies given a top “A” rating in a global survey of transparency and action on climate change. On Monday, non-profit group Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) published its study of 8,000 companies worldwide. Only 2% of them made it onto the A-list, the organisation said.

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Neon banking app slashes fees in growth drive

2020-01-22

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2020-01-22

Swiss financial services company Neon says it will scrap card fees for customers shopping abroad to spearhead an ambitious drive to boost the number of clients to 250,000 in the next two years. The Zurich-based fintech company has laid down a challenge to foreign competitors, such as Revolut and N26, with its announcement.

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Davos 2020: What to watch for at this year’s World Economic Forum

2020-01-21

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2020-01-21

World leaders, chief executives, thinkers and celebrities are gathering in the Swiss mountain town of Davos for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. The event, which begins on Tuesday, has earned a reputation for high-altitude pontificating as the global elite gather to pitch their takes on topics picked by WEF founder Klaus Schwab, from deglobalisation to the fourth industrial revolution.

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