Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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Swiss wind power held up by legal challenges

For a decade, wind energy in Switzerland has been stalled. Opponents have used every possible means to stop projects. At the end of September, one community will vote on the future of this kind of energy.

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What remains of Swiss democracy after the coronavirus measures?

On March 16 the Swiss government declared an “extraordinary situation” due to coronavirus. People had to stay at home for two months. The spring session of parliament was cancelled. The May referendum was postponed. The government ruled alone by emergency decree. Where does that leave direct democracy? Martina Mousson*, a political scientist from the gfs.bern research institute, is familiar with psychological phenomena in times of crisis. After...

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Switzerland ranked 4th for economic come back, according to study

A report published this week places Switzerland fourth on a list of countries best positioned to make an economic rebound after the coronavirus downturn. The analysis looks at overall health resilience, pre-existing structural strengths and weaknesses in 122 countries.

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Swiss Tourism Industry demands new Covid-19 Quarantine Regime

Foreign visitors from Covid-19 high risk countries should be able to travel to Switzerland with negative corona tests and not have to go into quarantine, say tourism officials. Under Swiss regulations, anyone entering Switzerland from one of the high risk coronavirus countries on a list regularly updated by the Federal Office of Public Health must go into quarantine for ten days to help curb the spread of Covid-19, or risk a fine.

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Credit Suisse makes digital push as it closes down branches

Credit Suisse is taking on so-called challenger banks with a new digital service for customers, including a debit card with no foreign transaction fees. The bank is closing down branches across Switzerland and is converting others into a “digital bar” concept.

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Fribourg hospital under pressure after Covid-19 outbreak

According to RTS, a branch of the HFR hospital in the Swiss canton of Fribourg has reached full capacity after a rise in Covid-19 patients following an outbreak in a local nursing home.

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No wave of coronavirus bankruptcies so far, study finds 

Government credits and employment support measures have helped stave off a wave of bankruptcies, but they could rise over the longer term, says a survey. 

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Switzerland adds 10 more nations to its compulsory quarantine list

On 7 September 2020, Switzerland added to its list of quarantine countries. People entering Switzerland from 55 nations must now quarantine for 10 days. On 7 September 2020, 10 nations were added to the list. These include Croatia, French Polynesia, Guyana, Lebanon, Libya, Paraguay, San Marino, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates.

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Swiss-UK financial services pact antidote to EU intransigence

Switzerland and Britain are thrashing out a post-Brexit financial services treaty that is being billed as a global standard for common sense. It also takes aim at perceived EU inflexibility that has seen the Swiss stock market frozen out of European markets.

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Pandemic speeds up push to digital as bank branches close

Swiss lender Credit Suisse is set to launch an overhaul of its digital banking offering, as it uses the coronavirus crisis as a springboard to accelerate the push from bricks-and-mortar branches to online services.

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Valcambi refinery denies sourcing ‘dirty’ gold from Dubai

The Swiss-based Valcambi refinery has rejected accusations about gold dealings with a controversial company in the United Arab Emirates.

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Art Basel and UBS art market survey shows online sales and millennial collectors increasingly important to an art market hit hard by COVID-19

Art Basel and UBS today published a 2020 mid-year survey 'The Impact of COVID-19 on the Gallery Sector' written by renowned cultural economist Dr. Clare McAndrew, Founder of Arts Economics. The survey findings present an analysis of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted 795 galleries operating in the Modern and contemporary gallery sector, representing 60 different markets across all levels of turnover, throughout the first six months of 2020.

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Switzerland takes Belgium and Mexico off Covid-19 ‘high risk’ list

People arriving in Switzerland from Belgium, Mexico and Luxembourg will no longer have to go into quarantine for ten days.

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Rights activists want Swiss-Chinese trade deal to be overhauled

Campaigners are urging the Swiss government to renegotiate a six-year-old free trade agreement with China to try to improve human rights and labour conditions for its Uighur Muslim minority.

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Ceneri Base Tunnel is officially open

The Ceneri Base Tunnel has been officially opened, with the first freight train passing through the tunnel in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino shortly after 11:30am. Passengers will have to wait for the new national rail timetable in December.

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Coronavirus: could masks explain Switzerland’s sharply declining death rate?

In Switzerland, over the three months following 31 May 2020, there have been 11,306 recorded cases of Covid-19 and 91 deaths, a case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.8%. However, up to this date there were 30,862 cases and 1,920 deaths, a CFR of 6.2%. Why has Switzerland’s CFR fallen so steeply?

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Swiss regulator escalates probe into Credit Suisse

The Swiss financial supervisor FINMA says it has opened enforcement proceedings against Credit Suisse into the 2019 spying affair that toppled the bank’s leadership and tarnished its reputation.

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Government exempts high-emission cars from Swiss climate goals

The Swiss government is easing the pressure on the automotive industry to reduce CO2 emissions, reports Sunday newspaper Le Matin Dimanche.

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Chinese-owned Swissport agrees emergency takeover

A consortium of investors has agreed a €800 million (CHF860 million) bailout of Chinese-owned airport services company Swissport. Revenues at the company have nosedived since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Geneva Airport expects 23 percent fewer passengers in 2021

Geneva Airport officials say the shockwaves of the Covid-19 pandemic will reverberate into next year, with the number of passengers flying to and from the airport expected to be down by almost a quarter compared with pre-coronavirus levels, according to Swiss public radio, RTS.

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