Tag Archive: Business

Banks braced as pandemic poses biggest test since financial crisis

2020-08-14

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2020-08-14

During the depths of the coronavirus crisis in Europe in late March, Sergio Ermotti remembers sitting in his home study in Lugano, reflecting on the latest financial meltdown to engulf his career as a banker.

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Swiss International Air Lines’ turnover halved due to coronavirus

2020-08-07

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2020-08-07

The economic repercussions of the coronavirus have caused turnover at SWISS to fall by 55% in the first half of 2020. With a turnover of CHF1.17 billion ($1.28 billion) between January and the end of June, the carrier suffered an operating loss of CHF266.4 million in the first half of the year, following an operating profit of CHF245.3 million a year earlier.

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Switzerland’s dark business with Ukrainian coal

2020-08-06

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2020-08-06

Pro-Russian separatists are financing their war in Ukraine with coal deliveries to the West. Now the role of Swiss companies in Zug and Geneva is being investigated, according to a report in the SonntagsZeitung. 

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Temporary employee sector hit hard by Covid-19 crisis

2020-07-30

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2020-07-30

The number of hours worked by temporary employees in Switzerland has dropped by about 23% due to the impact of restrictions imposed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Swiss humanitarian trade deal with Iran faces delay, questions 

2020-07-25

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2020-07-25

Swiss “good offices” between Tehran and Washington have brought about a humanitarian aid channel allowing Swiss-based companies to send medicines and other vital goods to Iran despite US sanctions. But it remains to be seen to what extent the now-delayed deal will help the Iranian people versus Swiss political and economic interests. 

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Precious metal stablecoin plugs into gold frenzy

2020-07-16

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2020-07-16

The price of gold and silver is rising in the face of a sharp economic downturn. Swiss company AgAu has chosen this moment to announce a precious metal-backed stablecoin onto the blockchain. It aims to provide better access to gold and silver and an alternative to bank-printed money.

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Julius Baer to offer private equity to ultra-wealthy clients

2020-07-14

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2020-07-14

Julius Baer has poached a senior executive from rival Swiss wealth manager UBS to set up a new division offering private equity and debt investments to its ultra-wealthy clients. The move illustrates how a prolonged period of low interest rates has forced the likes of UBS and Credit Suisse to prioritise offering illiquid private investments to their super-rich clients, who agree to forgo access to their capital in the hope of achieving higher...

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Tour group blames coronavirus for 70 Swiss job cuts 

2020-07-10

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2020-07-10

German tour operator TUI is to close eight of its 62 branches in Switzerland with the loss of around 70 jobs, owing to the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

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Motorway station supplier goes into liquidation

2020-07-07

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2020-07-07

A company that supplies Swiss motorway service stations and convenience stores has gone into liquidation after failing to find new investors. Some 144 jobs at Lekkerland Switzerland are now at risk of disappearing by the end of the year.

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Swiss sustainable finance: world leader or wishful thinking?

2020-07-06

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2020-07-06

The Swiss financial centre wants to take a lead in ethical investing. NGOs, however, fear the banks are more interested in cashing in than saving the planet. One thing everyone agrees on is the need for a universal definition of sustainable finance and measures to oversee the sector.

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Hands-off regulation of sustainable finance draws mixed response

2020-06-27

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2020-06-27

Extra rules will only be imposed on the sustainable finance sector if banks fail to properly police themselves, says the Swiss government. The hands-off regulatory approach to ethical investing has been welcomed by financial players, but criticised by NGOs. Unveiling a report on sustainable finance on Friday, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said legislators would stay in the background as a last resort measure.

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Swiss gold industry oversight too weak, say auditors

2020-06-27

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2020-06-27

The Swiss gold refining industry has once again come under scrutiny with a report that criticises the lack of control over imports of the precious metal. The Federal Audit Office says it is too easy for illegal imports to enter the country and that sanctions are inadequate.

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SoftBank invests in Credit Suisse funds financing technology bets

2020-06-17

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2020-06-17

SoftBank has quietly poured more than $500m into Credit Suisse investment funds that in turn made big bets on the debt of struggling start-ups backed by the Japanese technology conglomerate’s Vision Fund. SoftBank made the investment into the Swiss bank’s $7.5bn range of supply-chain finance funds, said three people familiar with the matter.

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Fintech firm Achiko hits Cayman-related compliance problems

2020-06-16

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2020-06-16

Cayman Islands fintech company Achiko has run into “compliance issues” just months after listing on the Swiss stock exchange. The firm has called a meeting of shareholders this week to approve a plan to create a Swiss company and re-list the shares from this entity.

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Expats in Switzerland need even deeper pockets

2020-06-12

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2020-06-12

Three Swiss cities – Zurich, Bern and Geneva – are among the ten most expensive in the world for expatriates, according to the annual Cost of Living survey by consultants Mercer. Hong Kong remains at the top of the list of 209 countries for the third year in a row. Six of the top ten are in Asia, three in Switzerland and one in the United States.

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Swiss Post set to relaunch its e-voting system

2020-06-11

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2020-06-11

The controversial issue of e-voting is back: Swiss Post, which had halted the development of a project in July 2019, has bought a Spanish-owned system and plans to propose a platform ready for testing by 2021.

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Lockdown led to big jump in worker productivity

2020-06-08

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2020-06-08

Thanks to more focus and flexibility, productivity per worker increased by up to 16% during the Covid-19 lockdown in Switzerland, a study has calculated. The study by the Swiss Trade Association (SGV), reported in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, found that while hours worked dropped by 10% in the first quarter of 2020, GDP sank by just 2.6%.

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WEF unveils dual physical and virtual Davos summit in 2021

2020-06-07

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2020-06-07

The World Economic Forum (WEF) annual conference in Davos will take place in January with fewer physical participants – but with a new “virtual” connection to more than 400 cities around the world.

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NGOs urge Swiss banks to ease developing country debt

2020-06-05

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2020-06-05

A group of 11 NGOs has called on Swiss banks and government ministries to consider offering relief on billions in debt owed by developing nations. The consortium says that the coronavirus pandemic has increased economic pressure on the poorest countries.

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Davos aims to coax elite out of isolation in January

2020-06-02

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2020-06-02

The World Economic Forum has vowed to hold its annual meeting in Davos in January, testing the willingness of a globetrotting elite to resume the high-powered networking that has been frozen by the coronavirus pandemic.

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