Tag Archive: Business

Libra stablecoin project ‘no threat’ to financial system

2019-09-30

by

2019-09-30

Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency poses no threat to central banks or to financial law and order, the head of the Geneva-based Libra Association tells swissinfo.ch. Many regulators, politicians and central banks have reacted with alarm to the proposed new digital payments system.

Read More »

BNP Paribas bank accused of complicity in Sudan rights abuses

2019-09-29

by

2019-09-29

Victims of rights abuses in Sudan have filed a legal complaint against the French BNP Paribas bank and its Swiss subsidiary, accusing them of complicity in crimes against humanity, genocide and torture allegedly committed in Darfur between 2002 and 2008.

Read More »

Chasing wealth managers is a risky business

2019-09-28

by

2019-09-28

Zurich is a sober and orderly city, so a fierce altercation near the Swiss National Bankexternal link between a banker to the world’s billionaires and a private detective who was trailing him is worthy of John Le Carré. It is all the more lurid that Credit Suisse ordered surveillance of Iqbal Khan after he left abruptly for its rival UBS.

Read More »

US stamps policy on the Universal Postal Union

2019-09-27

by

2019-09-27

I think it’s fair to say many people may not have heard of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Its unassuming headquarters sits peacefully in a leafy suburb of Bern. It is the only United Nations agency to grace Switzerland’s capital with a presence. In fact, the UPU is older than the UN itself. Founded in 1874, its mandate is to regulate the booming new (in the 19th century) international communication of letters and parcels.

Read More »

Another Swiss bank delves into cryptoassets

2019-09-19

by

2019-09-19

Arab Bank Switzerland has teamed up with blockchain technology firm Taurus to offer its wealthy clients access to bitcoin and ethereum. The bank joins a growing list of established players joining forces with fintech firms to tap into cryptoassets.

Read More »

Meat in Switzerland costs 2.3 times the EU average

2019-08-29

by

2019-08-29

You might think twice before overcooking a load of steak, chops and sausages on the barbecue: meat costs 2.3 times more in Switzerland than the European Union average. The priciest EU country for meat, Austria, is 1.46 times the average.

Read More »

Cryptos/Switzerland: Mountain Pass

2019-08-28

by

2019-08-28

Facebook takes on global finance. But its proposed digital currency Libra frightens central banks and regulators. Below the radar, Switzerland launches its own skirmish. Two local crypto-finance pioneers this week became the first to win banking licences.

Read More »

Swiss Banks Slow on the Digital Uptake

2019-08-28

by

2019-08-28

Swiss banks are turning their attention to providing more digital services for customers, but their progress has been slow. This may have something to do with new technology upstarts struggling to gain significant traction thus far in Switzerland, according to a new study.

Read More »

Swiss food-waste pioneer wins CHF200,000 prize

2019-08-23

by

2019-08-23

This year’s CHF200,000 ($204,000) J.E. Brandenberger Foundation prize has been awarded to Yvonne Kurzmeyer, founder of the charity organisation Schweizer Tafel. The organisation redistributes over 4,000 tonnes of food a year to underprivileged groups in Switzerland.

Read More »

Swiss groundwater quality threatened by pollution

2019-08-18

by

2019-08-18

Pollution from agriculture, former industrial sites and landfills is threatening Switzerland’s groundwater reserves, according to a detailed study of water quality. The water quality study from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), released on Thursday, said groundwater faces the greatest pressures in areas of high farming activity.

Read More »

Swiss pharma executive gets US sanction for insider trading  

2019-08-17

by

2019-08-17

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined Lorenz Erne, a former senior executive at Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche, for insider trading and ordered him to pay back the ill-gotten profits. Erne accepted the accusations and agreed to the terms of a settlement with the SEC, according to an SEC document published on Thursday. He has to pay back $159,228 (CHF156,000) plus a fine of $79,614 within 14 days to the SEC “for transfer to the...

Read More »

Swiss financial sector shines in international survey 

2019-08-13

by

2019-08-13

Switzerland’s financial centre has a positive reputation abroad, despite a string of scandals in 2018, according to a 19-nation survey conducted by Presence Suisse. The reputation and quality of Swiss banks were rated as “good” to “very good” by most respondents in the international poll of 12,767 people. The ethics and responsibility of the Swiss banking sector are also well regarded.

Read More »

Novartis rejects suspected data manipulation in US

2019-08-09

by

2019-08-09

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has dismissed criticism that it allegedly withheld information about animal testing data inaccuracies to United States authorities for a human gene therapy. Novartis said its subsidiary in California began investigating the alleged data manipulation for its gene therapy Zolgensma as soon as it learned about it.

Read More »

Chinese-owned Swissmetal sold to Swiss investors

2019-08-08

by

2019-08-08

The cash-strapped Baoshida Swissmetal company has been taken over by a group of Swiss investors six years after it was sold to a Chinese group. The newly-founded Swissmetal Industries, backed by two private investors, said it had acquired the firm, which employs about 160 people at two factories in the small towns of Dornach and Reconvilier.

Read More »

Pressure returns on Swiss franc amid global uncertainty

2019-08-07

by

2019-08-07

One knock-on effect of the escalating trade war between the United States and China is that the Swiss franc is becoming more attractive for investors – putting pressure on the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to come to the defence of the safe haven currency. For much of July a euro bought at least CHF1.10.

Read More »

US tourists flocking to Switzerland amid economic boom  

2019-08-06

by

2019-08-06

American visitors to Switzerland have increased by over 40% in five years and represent a major growth motor for the tourism industry, annual statistics show. Chinese and Indian tourists are often seen as the future of Swiss tourism, the SonntagsZeitung and Le Matin Dimanche newspapers reported at the weekend. However, they say, “North America is the real growth engine when it comes to overseas visitors”.

Read More »

Glencore suffers $350m hit as cobalt prices decline

2019-08-02

by

2019-08-02

Glencore has taken a $350 million hit because of falling cobalt prices as the problems facing its African copper business continue to pile up. The Switzerland-based miner and commodity trader has been grappling with a string of issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it operates two copper mines, and in Zambia, where it owns another asset.

Read More »

Nestlé invests CHF99 million in factory expansion in Indonesia

2019-08-01

by

2019-08-01

The Swiss food giant has announced plans to invest CHF99 million (around $100 million) to expand three factories in Indonesia. The goal is to increase Nestlé’s production capacity in the country by 25%, according to a company announcement on Wednesday.

Read More »

Switzerland’s first integrated crypto asset exchange launched

2019-07-31

by

2019-07-31

Smart Valor, the country’s first integrated cryptocurrency exchange offering custody, trading and brokerage, has gone live with nine crypto-fiat trading pairs. The assets on Zug-based platform, that was launched in 2017 as part of the Thomson Reuters Incubator, includes crypto currencies and security tokens.

Read More »

Switzerland assists Japanese probe into Carlos Ghosn 

2019-07-30

by

2019-07-30

Canton Zurich’s public prosecutor is assisting the Japanese authorities in an inquiry related to bank accounts associated with Carlos Ghosn, the former leading auto executive. Tokyo prosecutors sent a request for legal assistance to Switzerland in January, a spokesperson for the country's Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) told swissinfo.ch.

Read More »