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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No Swiss citizenship for WEF founder Schwab, reports say

2019-11-13

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2019-11-13

World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab will not be receiving honorary Swiss citizenship, despite the idea having being mooted earlier this year. Such an honorary conferral of the passport has no basis in Swiss law, the Federal Justice Office announced on Tuesday, after it was contacted by the daily Südostschweiz newspaper.

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Billionaires’ club shrinks as economy wobbles

2019-11-12

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2019-11-12

The world lost 57 billionaires last year as economic woes and the unexpected strengthening of the US dollar wiped $388 billion (CHF386 billion) from their combined wealth. Switzerland had three fewer billionaires; the 33 who remain saw their bank accounts shrink by $16 billion.

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Billionaire Boom “Has Now Undergone A Natural Correction”

2019-11-11

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2019-11-11

Fifteen Years of asset growth, 2003-2018
Over the last five years ending in 2018, the billionaire boom created more billionaires than the world has ever seen. These financial elites saw their wealth increase by more than a third over the same period, but as soon as 2018 rolled around, the billionaire boom deflated, according to a new UBS/PwC Billionaires Report.

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French-speaking cantons biggest winners from next year’s fiscal transfers

2019-11-11

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2019-11-11

The amount of money paid by “rich” cantons to “poor” ones will rise by CHF 61 million to CHF 5.3 billion in 2020, according to a recent government press release. The only French-speaking canton paying will be Geneva. All of the rest will see the sums they receive rise compared to 2019. In 2020, Geneva will pay CHF 275 million, down slightly from the CHF 300 million it paid in 2019.

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More than 100 members of Extinction Rebellion convicted in Switzerland

2019-11-10

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2019-11-10

In September 2019, groups of people belonging to the group Extinction Rebellion blocked two road bridges in Lausanne. Local police cleared the bridges by removing, in some cases carrying, protesters away. On 7 November 2019, 117 of the people involved in the bridge protests were convicted and fined for breaking Switzerland’s penal code, according to RTS.

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Demobilising Swiss merchant navy to cost another CHF100 million

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

Switzerland will incur a further CHF100 million ($101 million) loss as it continues to reduce its merchant shipping fleet. The ongoing bill for selling off ships and meeting their debt obligations has now risen to an estimated CHF300 million, the government has admitted.

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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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