Tag Archive: Business

CEO of Baselworld steps down

The head of the world’s largest watch and jewellery trade show, the Swiss-based Baselworld, has handed in his resignation amid a row over the departure of several exhibitors. The MCH Group announced that CEO Peter Kamm would resign from his position “in view of the fundamental transformation phase in business operations”.

Read More »

Swiss court blocks French request for UBS banking data

Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court has ordered the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) not to provide France with details about 40,000 UBS bank clients with French addresses. In May 2016, the French tax authorities requested administrative assistance from the FTA. They wanted details about UBS clients who lived or had lived in France.

Read More »

IT made compulsory for upper secondary pupils

Computer science has become obligatory at Swiss upper secondary schools, as the country seeks to plug its information technology (IT) skills gap. These schools (Gymnasium/lyceé/liceo), whose pupils typically go on to university, have until the school year 2022/3 to introduce the compulsory lessons, under a regulation change that came into force on August 1. Previously, IT had the status of a non-obligatory supplementary subject.

Read More »

Central bank back in the black after shaky 2018 start

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has reported strong profits for the first half of the year, largely thanks to a weakening franc and gains in the foreign currency market. The results, published in an SNB press releaseon Tuesday, show overall profits of CHF5.11 billion ($5.17 billion) for the first six months of 2018, compared with CHF1.22 billion the previous year.

Read More »

Swatch Group withdraws from Baselworld

With the departure of its largest exhibitor from 2019, it’s yet another setback for the world’s largest watch and jewellery trade show, which has seen participation dwindle in recent years.

Read More »

UBS Boss Bemoans Geopolitical Jitters

UBS may have seen quarterly profits rise year-on-year, but chief executive Sergio Ermotti says the threat of trade wars and political unrest has dampened investor enthusiasm and continues to hold back financial markets.

Read More »

Zurich Airport to Limit Night-Time Flight Traffic

Federal aviation authorities have decided to limit the number of time slots for planes at Switzerland’s main airport in Zurich. The Federal Office of Civil Aviationexternal link said it has ordered a freeze on landings after 9pm and for take-offs after 10:20pm to reduce the noise for residents living near the airport.

Read More »

Swiss slap nearly 20,000 fines over labour violations

Swiss authorities sanction on average ten companies per day for violating wage protection rules, according to official figures. That corresponds to 19,200 fines in the span of five years. NZZ am Sonntag published these figures on Sunday on the basis of a list compiled by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Read More »

Rothschild bank sanctioned for role in 1MDB scandal

The Swiss financial regulator has concluded its investigations into the Malaysian 1MDB scandal by finding Rothschild Bank AG and one of its subsidiaries in serious breach of anti-money laundering regulations. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) said on Friday that it has appointed an auditor to make sure the bank and its Rothschild Trust vehicle properly implement an internal overhaul of its practices.

Read More »

Swiss bank settles US tax evasion probe

The Zurich-based Neue Privat Bank (NPB) has paid $5 million (CHF5 million) fine to settle a criminal tax evasion investigation in the United States. NPB is one of a handful of so-called ‘category 1’ Swiss or Swiss-based bank branches that were still facing sanctions at the start of this year.

Read More »

Uber plans softer Swiss expansion drive

The ride sharing service Uber plans to expand further in Switzerland, but not as aggressively as in the past, Swiss head Steve Salom says in a newspaper interview. Uber is present in Zurich, Basel, Geneva and Lausanne with 300,000 regular customers and some 2,600 drivers in Switzerland, Salom told SonntagsBlick.

Read More »

WIPO crowns Switzerland as world’s most innovative nation

Switzerland retained its crown as the world’s most innovative country for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – the global intellectual property agency.

Read More »

Switzerland files WTO complaint over American steel tariffs

The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has initiated a dispute settlement procedure with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against US steel and aluminium import tariffs. In a statement published on Tuesday, SECO announced that a complaint to this effect had been filed with the WTO because Switzerland was one of the countries affected by the additional import tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products into the US.

Read More »

Germany alleged to have spied on Swiss firms in Austria

A dozen branches of Swiss firms in Austria were targeted by German spies between 1999 and 2006, according to the SonntagsBlick newspaper which has seen documents belonging to Germany’s federal intelligence service BND. Part of the data was allegedly handed to the United States. The Sunday newspaper said the Swiss firms targeted by German spies in Austria included the pharmaceutical company Sandoz, which belongs to the Novartis Group, the logistics...

Read More »

‘Hidden’ transport costs on the rise

A government study has found that the so-called ‘external costs’ of various modes of transport collectively increased by almost CHF1 billion during the period 2010-2015. For walkers and cyclists, however, benefits outweigh the costs.

Read More »

Thousands of Swiss firms are unregistered

About 13,000 companies are not listed in the commercial register – a serious problem, notes the Swiss Federal Audit Office. Increased cooperation with the tax authorities could be a solution. On Wednesday the office published an evaluation of how Switzerland has been combating corruption over the past decade – since it’s been following a recommendation of the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).

Read More »

Mining giant Glencore faces US corruption probe

Swiss commodities mining and trading giant Glencore has been subpoenaed by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) in relation to its activities in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Venezuela.

Read More »

Swiss intercity trains in for a makeover

The Swiss Federal Railways is revamping its intercity IC2000 fleet at a cost of approximately CHF300 million ($302 million). The first completely renovated trains will be put back into operation in early 2019. The 341 wagons should be fit for another 20 years on the rails after their makeover.

Read More »

Swiss public broadcaster to phase out 250 jobs

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), swissinfo’s parent company, announced on Thursday a series of belt-tightening measures, including the elimination of 250 full-time positions over the next four years. The SBC is initiating a four-year savings and redeployment programme aimed at saving CHF100 million ($100 million), which will be re-invested across its various business and language units.

Read More »

Swiss banks urged to step up fight against financial crime

Swiss financial institutions and public authorities must do more to prevent organised crime and money laundering within the financial system, a study by the consulting firm KPMG published on Tuesday has found. The authors of the study called “Clarity on Crime in Financial Services” highlighted several challenges and problems which must be addressed if banks want to successfully prevent and identify criminal financial activities in future.

Read More »