Tag Archive: Business

Public trust in Swiss banks soars amid pandemic 

Swiss people’s trust in their country’s banks is at its highest in 20 years, boosted by Covid credits and a commitment to sustainability, according to a new survey. People from almost all political camps have a positive perception, with 75% describing their attitude towards Swiss banks as positive or very positive, found the survey conducted by gfs.bern for the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA).

Read More »

Swiss Private Banks at Odds with Clients over ESG

Switzerland used to be a place where the rich came with their money to escape the world’s problems, not to confront them. These days, the private banks that dot the pristine streets of Zurich and Geneva are no exception when it comes to the wave of enthusiasm that has broken over the asset management world for better environmental, social and governance standards.

Read More »

FX Daily, May 13: Long Lost Bond Vigilantes Sighted, Gives Dollar Fillip

It is as if the bond vigilantes were pushed too far. US inflation is accelerating more than expected, and it cannot all be attributed to the base effect, and the Federal Reserve, to many investors, is tone-deaf. With powerful fiscal stimulus, nominal growth above 10%, and the economy re-opening, albeit unevenly, does the monetary accelerator need to be fully engaged?

Read More »

Electric Car maker feels the power of Switzerland

Anton “Toni” Piëch, co-founder of the Swiss electric car manufacturer Piëch Automotive, tells SWI swissinfo.ch why he chose Zurich and how he intends to make his mark in a highly competitive market with battery-powered cars for “purists who love technology”.

Read More »

Federer to auction clothes, rackets and other gear for charity

Millions of Roger Federer fans around the world might be salivating at the prospect of owning some mementos of the Swiss great's incredible career after he announced he is auctioning off a collection of personal items this summer.

Read More »

Credit Suisse plots comeback after ‘costly mistakes’ took it to the brink

As Credit Suisse executives finalised an emergency $1.9 billion (CHF1.75 billion) fundraising from investors last week, a group of the bank’s prized super-rich clients from across Europe and Asia were on a separate Zoom call hosted by law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to plot a class-action suit against the lender.

Read More »

Swiss bank pays up to settle German tax evasion probe

Switzerland’s Migros Bank has agreed to pay €2.4 million (CHF2.65 million) to clear up cross-border tax evasion issues with Germany. Migros is one of several Swiss banks that have shelled out a penalty to avoid prosecution in the neighbouring country. Other banks to have made such an arrangement in the past include UBS, Credit Suisse and Julius Bär.

Read More »

How Credit Suisse rolled the dice on risk management — and lost

Five months before Greensill Capital’s collapse, Credit Suisse invited a special guest to present to its top ranks in Asia. The visitor was hailed as the sort of bold entrepreneur the bank wanted to do business with: Lex Greensill. “The tone was this is the exact kind of client the bank wants, tell the MDs to go out and find more guys like Lex,” said one senior manager who watched the November video conference.

Read More »

Swiss digital asset trading network expands

A blockchain-inspired trading infrastructure, which links banks, companies and investors to cryptocurrencies and a new breed of digital securities, is nearing fruition in Switzerland.

Read More »

Restaurants to re-open despite high Covid infection rate 

The Swiss government has decided to allow outdoor tables in restaurants and bars again as of next Monday, following a four-month temporary closure. As part of its anti-Covid strategy, cultural and sports events will be open to the public under certain conditions, a government statement said. 

Read More »

Swiss banks queuing up to jump on blockchain train

Digital bank Swissquote is expanding its crypto business by delving into the new world of blockchain-compliant digital assets. It appears that they are not alone: several high street banks also plan to launch “tokenization” services.

Read More »

Study shows benefits of physical and cognitive play in dementia patients

Elderly participants who trained regularly on a fitness device developed by a Swiss company showed improvements in cognitive skills, such as attention, concentration, memory and orientation. The study, carried out by an international team in two Belgian care homes, relied on a fitness game, known as “Exergame”, developed by a spin-off of the federal technology institute ETH Zurich.

Read More »

Lonza to create 1,200 new jobs at vaccine-production site

The Swiss pharmaceutical company is recruiting workers to join its new plant in southern Switzerland, where three production lines have been set up to manufacture an active ingredient of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.

Read More »

All electric pledge by Swiss car-sharing firm

Car-sharing company Mobility says it will electrify its entire fleet of 3,000 vehicles and build a network of e-charging stations by 2030.

Read More »

Nestlé attacks food benefits of Brazilian workers during the pandemic

The Swiss multinational is celebrating 100 years in Brazil but its poorest workers face food voucher cuts amid rising food prices caused by the pandemic. After a century of doing business in Brazil – Nestlé’s fifth largest market with CHF2.79 billion ($2.94 billion) in sales in 2020 – the Swiss food manufacturer faces the discontent of trade unions in the South American country. 

Read More »

The Swiss textile machinery industry has a China dilemma

Amid allegations of forced labour involving Uyghur and other minorities in the garment supply chain, the Swiss textile machinery sector faces thorny questions about its ties to and reliance on China. In 2014, the same year the Swiss-China free trade deal went into force, a group of industry colleagues including a representative of the Swiss firm Uster Technologies visitedExternal link cotton gins and spinning mills in Xinjiang, Western China.

Read More »

Electric cars are on the way, but is Switzerland ready?

Last year saw a surge in new electric vehicle (EV) sales worldwide and Switzerland was no exception. But the experience of frontrunner countries like Norway shows that some things will have to change if the Swiss electric car revolution is to keep pace in the years ahead and reduce carbon emissions.

Read More »

Credit Suisse and Nomura warn of losses after Archegos-linked sell-off

Credit Suisse and Nomura have warned of large losses after a fire sale of about $20bn of Chinese and US stocks, as their client Archegos Capital Management was forced into a huge unwinding of assets.

Read More »

Credit Suisse warns of ‘highly significant’ loss linked to hedge fund

The Swiss bank Credit Suisse says it may face a “highly significant” loss in the first quarter due to an unnamed American hedge fund client defaulting on margin calls. In a statement issued on Monday, the bank said: “While at this time it is premature to quantify the exact size of the loss resulting from this exit, it could be highly significant and material to our first quarter results”.

Read More »

Swiss ‘too big to fail’ banks pose little risk to the economy

Three of Switzerland’s “too big to fail” banks no longer threaten to cause a seismic shift in the economy should they collapse, says the financial regulator. Zurich Cantonal Bank, PostFinance and the Raiffeisen banking group are now deemed to have put into place credible plans for an orderly bankruptcy.

Read More »