Tag Archive: Business

Lucerne Considers Coach Tax, other Measures to Manage Tourist Influx

One of the most popular destinations in Switzerland is reviewing its tourism strategy and mulling introducing coach fees in a bid to curb traffic woes and other disruptions caused by the large number of tourists it welcomes.

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Federal Court to give verdict on UBS tax evasion case 

The Swiss Federal Court is to decide on Friday whether Swiss bank UBS should handover data on its French clients to Paris tax authorities as part of a crackdown on suspected tax evasion. The decision has been described as key for Swiss banking circles.

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Expat Swiss Celebrated at Historic Winegrower’s Festival

The expatriate Swiss community has been attending the once-in-a-lifetime Fête des Vignerons, currently taking place on the shores of Lake Geneva. A delegation of Swiss citizens living across the world, including leading members of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroadexternal link (OSA), gathered in Vevey to participate in the event on Thursday.

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Swiss Railway Tracks Buckle under the Heat

The hottest day of the year in Switzerland caused a headache for the Swiss Federal Railways. Track damage occurred on Wednesday in the Zurich Oberland, canton Aargau near Brugg and in the Geneva area. Railways spokesman Raffael Hirt confirmed that lines had been interrupted in Zurich between Pfäffikon and Wetzikon and in Aargau between Wildegg and Brugg.

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Swiss tourist chief warns against Europe-only strategy

The director of Switzerland’s tourism marketing company has dismissed criticism that the country is overrun by Asian tourists. Martin Nydegger said concerns by the local population about too many tourists should be taken seriously. But the perception of overtourism was mistaken and potentially damaging.

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US ratifies double-taxation deal with Switzerland

The United States Senate on Wednesday ratified a double-taxation agreement (DTA) with Switzerland, ending years of stalemate. The agreement, which required two-thirds of votes, was accepted by a large majority, according to the US Senate website.

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Swiss fuel-related CO2 emissions remained stable in 2019

Despite an increase in the use of biofuels and electric vehicles, fuel-related carbon dioxide emissions remained unchanged in 2018 in the country. The stagnation was due to the increase in road traffic. Owing to a rise in the average number of kilometres Swiss residents travelled last year, as well as growth in higher-emissions passenger vehicles – mainly four-wheel drives – fuel-related CO2 emissions in 2017 were still 3.3% above their 1990 level,...

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Old Swiss trains get chance at new life online

The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) is selling its old locomotives on the Internet. Control cars, rails, switches and a firefighting train with a CHF1 million ($1 million) price tag are among the vintage vehicles on sale. You will be hard pressed to find anything for less than CHF25,000 on SBBresale.ch, according to the Sunday editions of the German-language Blick newspaper and French-language Le Matin.

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Competition watchdog fines car leasing companies for collusion

The Swiss competition commission (COMCO) has fined eight car leasing firms a total of CHF30 million ($30.4 million) for having swapped information on rates. The fines were announced on Thursday and come after some years of regular and systematic information exchanges between the companies on interest rates, COMCO announced.

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Some 60 percent of all Swiss banknotes are hoarded, study finds

The amount of Swiss CHF1,000 notes that are hoarded rather than being used in the economy for payments could be as high as 87%, a study by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has shown. The report, “Demand for Swiss banknotes: some new evidence”, estimates the volume of Swiss banknotes being stashed – rather than spent or invested – over the period 1950-2017.

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The rich get poorer for the first time since 2011

After seven years of growth, both the number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) around the world and their total wealth declined in 2018, according to the latest World Wealth Report by consultants Capgemini. This trend was also seen in Switzerland.

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TGV trains run again between Geneva and France

The international TGV rail link between Geneva and France, which had been affected by the hot weather, has been repaired. Trains have been running since 5am on Sunday. Hot weather had buckled the tracks at La Plaine in canton Geneva, requiring repair work on Saturday, the Swiss Federal Railways said on Sunday.

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Quantum says Swiss prosecutors close Angola-related case

The Office of the Attorney General has closed an investigation into events surrounding the Zug-based asset manager Quantum Global and its founder Jean-Claude Bastos, the firm says. Bastos has been in the spotlight over ties to Angola’s sovereign wealth fund.

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Swiss car importers fined over higher CO2 emissions

For the third year running, newly registered cars in Switzerland have failed to meet the national CO2 emissions target, largely due to the growth in the number of 4x4s and fall in diesel cars, the Federal Office of Energy has warned.

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First-half investment in Swiss start-ups doubles to more than CHF1 billion

Venture capital investment in Swiss start-ups doubled during the first half of 2019 to exceed CHF1 billion ($1.01 billion). After record investment in 2018, the venture capital market has stayed strong in 2019, according to data published on Tuesday by Swiss company Venturelab.

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Another Swiss bank settles German tax evasion probe

The Schaffhausen Cantonal Bank has settled a tax evasion dispute with the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia with a €3.9 million (CHF4.3 million) payment. The penalty clears the bank for all damages in Germany.

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Vitol overtakes Glencore as biggest company in Switzerland

Commodity trader Vitol has taken the top spot in the ranking of the largest companies in Switzerland by total turnover, relegating Zug-based Glencore to second place. According to the rankingexternal link published in the Handelszeitung on Thursday, in 2018 Vitol boasted growth of 26.8% for a total turnover of CHF226 billion ($231 billion) compared to Glencore’s CHF215 billion.

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Swiss mortgages and bank profits rise as jobs scale down

Swiss commercial banks achieved higher profits last year, mortgage loans tipped the CHF1 trillion ($1.02 trillion) mark and costs were saved by reducing headcounts. These are the findings of an annual report from the Swiss National bank (SNB).

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Swiss central bank asked to issue stock exchange digital currency

The Swiss stock exchange wants the country’s central bank to issue a form of cryptocurrency to settle payments on its new digital securities trading platform. If the Swiss National Bank (SNB) agrees, it would represent a departure from its cautious policy on digital currencies. Stock exchange operator SIX Group revealed at the Crypto Valley Association conference that traders on its forthcoming SDX platform would be able to swap cash for a new...

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Complaint filed against Federer and other Instagram influencers

A Swiss consumer protection organisation has filed a complaint against Swiss tennis star Roger Federer and several other celebrity “influencers”, accusing them of “stealth advertising” on Instagram and other social media sites.

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