Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

Swiss banks implicated in trading cartel investigation

The European Commission has ended an investigation of five banks, including UBS and Credit Suisse, who colluded in a foreign exchange spot trading cartel.

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Omicron exposes our pandemic failures

They say a week is a long time in politics – last week we discovered it’s a long time in a pandemic as well. We started the week anxiously watching the rising Covid cases in Europe, and wondering what new restrictions might be heading our way for Christmas.

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Swiss politicians join calls for Beijing Olympic Games boycott

Swiss politicians are among those calling for a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China in February 2022, to protest China’s campaign of repression against Uyghurs and other minority groups, as well as its crackdown on Hong Kong. The alleged abuses against the mainly Muslim minority in Xinjiang include mass detention and torture. The US State Department and several European legislatures have classified the human rights abuses as...

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Demand for crypto stamp crashes post office’s online shop

The launch of Swiss Post’s first “crypto” stamp has met with such high demand that the online shop was overwhelmed for several hours.

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Stable income but higher taxes for Swiss households

The average private household in Switzerland spent about 31% of its income on taxes, social security and health insurance premiums in 2019.

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How Play Suisse made waves among the streamers

In a little over a year Play Suisse, the streaming service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), has become a major player in the Swiss digital landscape, surpassing platforms like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. Critic Max Borg looks at the strengths and weaknesses of Play Suisse and its rivals.

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Geldcast Update: Lessons from interest rate problems

The Australian central bank is being attacked by the markets and is losing control over interest rates. Something similar happened to the Swiss National Bank in 2015 with the minimum exchange rate for the euro. But what is behind this?

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A just democracy is a robust democracy

Polarisation, social divisions, distrust and inequality: How can people in democracies push back against the negative dynamics emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic? At the International Forum Zofingen, SWI swissinfo.ch asked international and Swiss democracy experts for some answers to some fundamental challenges facing today's democracies. This includes perspectives from Matt Qvortrup, Coventry University/UK, Estefania Cuero, diversity...

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Moving up in the world: could you work from home in the Alps?

During the pandemic, some skiers have been doing just that. But does the romantic vision tally with the reality? It was in May, while hiking along the forest trails and waterfalls of La Tièche, with views towards the snow-dusted peaks of the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc, that fitness coach Jessica Z Christensen decided to spend more time in the Swiss mountains.

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How the bubble house movement took hold in Switzerland

Swiss architects were swept up in the movement to build bubble houses out of concrete and plastic in the 1960s. While the bubble movement burst decades ago, many of the original structures are still standing to this day.

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How the pandemic has widened inequalities in Swiss watchmaking

Driven by strong Chinese demand, Swiss watchmaking is recovering after suffering one of its biggest economic shocks in 2020. But the crisis has further widened the gap between the few brands that take the lion’s share of the profits and the rest of the industry.

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Swiss government moots international monetary assistance

The government seeks to renew its policy to support assistance measures by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It asked parliament to approve plans to continue international monetary cooperation to the tune of CHF10 billion ($10.8 billion) by 2028.The existing legal basis expires in April 2023, according to officials.

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Call to tap potential of professional working women

Women make up half of the highly skilled workforce in Switzerland, but work fewer hours, according to a study published on Tuesday. One in three would like to work more, under certain conditions.

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Improving conditions for Swiss nurses

Swiss nurses are calling for better working conditions in an initiative being put to the vote on November 28. It was launched by the Alliance of Healthcare Professions, grouping more than 10 professional and trade union organisations. The Alliance wants the government and the cantons to beef up nurse training and guarantee certain working conditions and salary rates. The government says the initiative goes too far. --- swissinfo.ch is the...

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Multinationals and the mirage of paying their fair share of tax

Companies come to Switzerland for tax reasons all the time. Should that be illegal? Jessica covers the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to big global companies and their impact in Switzerland and abroad.

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Google admits defeat in disputed Swiss cloud tender

The Swiss federal authorities can proceed with awarding a cloud computing contract to five US and Chinese companies, including Amazon, Microsoft and Alibaba, after Google dropped an appeal against the decision to leave it out of the project.

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Covid certificate – keep it or ditch it?

Is the Covid certificate worth keeping? A vote on 28 November 2021 will decide. The Swiss will be asked whether they accept laws passed earlier this year that paved the way for the introduction of the certificate. The system provides proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test. It’s the second time a vote has been organised to challenge the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In summer, voters were given a chance to reverse the...

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Geneva-Lausanne train link remains suspended

The holes were caused by tunneling work under the tracks carried out by a private company, which was working on a thermal energy project using water from Lake Geneva to heat an industrial zone not far from the train line. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott The main rail link between Geneva and Lausanne in southwestern Switzerland will not re-open until Friday morning, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB/CFF) has confirmed. The line has been suspended since...

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American farmers pursue Syngenta over herbicide’s link to Parkinson’s disease

The Swiss-based multinational has already set aside $187.5 million (CHF 171 million) to settle legal cases filed by farmers exposed to paraquat. But the total bill could run into billions as lawsuits pile up.

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Swiss expats thrown limited banking lifeline by digital disruptor

Digital bank Yapeal is offering basic accounts to Swiss people living in neighbouring countries that undercut the rising fees of mainstream competitors. 

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