Tag Archive: Business

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

2021-03-21

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2021-03-21

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.

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Switzerland is wrangling over implementation of tougher tobacco laws

2021-03-20

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2021-03-20

The Swiss parliament is currently debating tightening restrictions on advertising of tobacco products. This comes after a people’s initiative calls for a radical advertising ban to protect children.

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How the Swiss central bank could control the cost of pandemic debt

2021-03-18

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2021-03-18

The cost of paying off spiralling national debt in the United States and Switzerland is rising as interest rates increase. This makes the financing of pandemic expenditure more expensive. That's not a problem in Japan where the central bank is holding interest rates in check. Would the Japanese recipe also be something for Switzerland?

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Bitcoin Suisse bank license bid hits regulatory roadblock

2021-03-18

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2021-03-18

Cryptocurrency firm Bitcoin Suisse has withdrawn its application for a banking license, in part because it failed to meet the anti-money laundering requirements of the Swiss financial regulator.

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More parcels, fewer letters: pandemic dents Swiss Post finances

2021-03-12

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2021-03-12

The Covid-19 pandemic cost the state-owned Swiss postal service CHF139 million ($150 million) last year, which was largely responsible for driving down profits by 30%. Swiss Post delivered a record 182.7 million parcels in 2020, up nearly a quarter in volume from the previous year.

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Swiss government expects fast economic recovery in 2021

2021-03-11

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2021-03-11

After a weak start to the year, Switzerland’s economy should recover rapidly from a heavy coronavirus-driven slump to grow by 3% in 2021, the government said on Thursday. Gross domestic product will fall “significantly” in the first quarter of this year, after Covid-19 restrictions last December, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said in a statement.

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Swiss government wants to keep control of weapons exports

2021-03-07

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2021-03-07

The Swiss government has rejected calls to allow voters and cantons to set conditions for weapons exports. A people’s initiative collected enough signatures in 2019 to force a nationwide vote on the issue.

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Switzerland gears up to place robots in classrooms

2021-03-02

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2021-03-02

Covid-19 has accelerated the transition to online teaching, raising questions about the role of robots in classrooms. Switzerland is rolling out its own robot learning programs, but it’s still a long way off before they will replace teachers.

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Swiss tourism boss says ski resort openings have been justified

2021-02-23

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2021-02-23

The head of the Switzerland Tourism organisation reckons the decision to open ski resorts in the country this winter has – so far – proven to be a good one.

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The Swiss eID law has flaws, but is another version worth the wait?

2021-02-19

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2021-02-19

The eID is billed as a long-overdue key to the digital world, a single access point for services provided by a range of public and private-sector organisations. But the model proposed by Switzerland – being put to a nationwide referendum in March – is far from watertight.

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Switzerland tops global e-commerce index

2021-02-18

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2021-02-18

Switzerland is the best equipped country for online shopping, according to a United Nations comparison of more than 150 states.

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Swiss competition watchdog to investigate Mastercard

2021-02-17

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2021-02-17

The competition authority suspects the global credit card firm of using its position to prevent the rollout of a new, more uniform, ATM system across Switzerland.

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Swiss spent record amount on food in 2020

2021-02-14

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2021-02-14

Consumers spent 11.3% more on food and beverages in brick-and-mortar shops last year than they did in 2019, helping the food retail trade to pull in a record turnover of nearly CHF30 billion ($33.7 billion).

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Julius Baer: mast do better

2021-02-02

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2021-02-02

Swiss private bank Julius Baer has benefitted from rising global markets over the past year, but can it keep it up the momentum?

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Pandemic dents Swiss appetite for new cars

2021-01-30

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2021-01-30

Covid-19 has been blamed for a 17.8% decline in car registrations in Switzerland last year. The number of motor vehicle sales fell even further – by nearly a quarter.

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Funding for start-ups barely dented by coronavirus

2021-01-26

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2021-01-26

More than CHF2 billion of venture capital flowed into young Swiss companies for the second year in a row, a sustained rate of funding that defied the economic destruction wreaked by the pandemic last year.

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Swiss multinationals draw blurry political lines in the sand

2021-01-21

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2021-01-21

Our analysis of what the biggest global companies in Switzerland are up to. This week: corporate funding in politics, diamond billionaire on trial and high hopes for the economy.

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UBS to close a sixth of its Swiss branches

2021-01-14

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2021-01-14

The closures will affect 44 of the bank’s 239 branches in the country, mainly smaller ones, UBS confirmed on Tuesday. The bank plans to continue beefing up its online offers.

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Two globally pioneering technologies among Swiss energy prize winners

2021-01-07

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2021-01-07

A floating solar power plant and a transport project using renewable hydrogen are among the winners of the 2021 Watt d’Or prize. 

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Swiss franc shrugs off being put on the naughty step by US

2021-01-07

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2021-01-07

For many foreign exchange traders, the US Treasury’s decision to designate Switzerland as a currency manipulator last month comes nearly six years too late and with a good dose of irony.

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