Tag Archive: Business

Swiss Press Reacts Positively to Energy Legislation

2017-05-22

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2017-05-22

A majority of commentators in Swiss newspapers are pleased with voters’ decision to withdraw from nuclear power and promote renewable energies, even if the government’s energy strategy leaves many open questions.

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Three Swiss Farms Close a Day

2017-05-19

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2017-05-19

The trend for fewer but larger farms continued in Switzerland last year, with the total number dropping by 990 to 52,263. While small and conventionally farmed businesses were throwing in the towel, organic agriculture flourished.

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Syngenta deal will ‘drive modernisation’ of Chinese farming

2017-05-19

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2017-05-19

Syngenta, the Swiss agribusiness group which is being acquired by ChemChina in the biggest foreign takeover by a Chinese company, will help Beijing modernise China's farm sector while simultaneously remaining firmly a "western company", its chairman has said. Michel Demaré told The Financial Times that, under its new owners, Syngenta would become "a partner of the Chinese government to basically drive the modernisation of Chinese agriculture – so...

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Cabinet sees no need to regulate social media

2017-05-18

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2017-05-18

Remain vigilant, continue to monitor, but no need for concerted federal action. This was the conclusion of a cabinet report Wednesday on social media and the problems it can provoke, including “fake news” and distorting public opinion. The cabinet decided that, for now, more regulation is not the solution.

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Swiss export products banned as toxic at home

2017-05-17

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2017-05-17

In the wake of a Chinese takeover of the Swiss agribusiness group Syngenta, a Swiss advocacy group raises concerns about Switzerland's regulatory role. Switzerland exports two powerful herbicides, atrazine and paraquat, to developing countries. However, these products, manufactured by Basel giant Syngenta, are prohibited in the Swiss territory.

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Swiss awarded stolen tax CD payment

2017-05-16

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2017-05-16

Switzerland will receive most of the money paid by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to a man who provided the state with stolen Credit Suisse client data, it has been confirmed.

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Swiss engineers wanted – nerds need not apply

2017-05-15

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2017-05-15

tunnel
Too many students turn their backs on engineering thinking it is a career for “nerds”, according to a leading Swiss business lobbyist. Changing this perception is key to plugging an expected shortfall of 50,000 engineering professionals in Switzerland.

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How companies in Switzerland become best places to work

2017-05-13

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2017-05-13

A new ranking shows the best firms to work for in Switzerland – with Google topping the large companies for a third time in a row. Important to employees in all categories: a respectful and motivational work culture. In all, 29 companies were awarded Best Workplaces in Switzerland in the Great Place to Work® Award Ceremony in Zurich on Thursday evening.

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How The US Government Let A Giant Bank Pin A Scandal On A Former Employee

2017-05-12

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2017-05-12

UBS Zurich
The following is an excerpt from David Enrich's nonfiction financial and legal thriller The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History. (Read part of the prologue here; another excerpt can be found here) This excerpt takes place shortly after the accused mastermind of the Libor scandal, Tom Hayes, is fired from his job at Citigroup, kicking government...

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SocGen: Beware The Ghost Of 1993

2017-05-12

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2017-05-12

The Vix is at its lowest level since 1993, Commodities and rates are dragging the AUD down
With Monday's financial media blasting reports about the VIX collapse to levels not seen in 24 years, going all the way back to 1993, it is worth remembering that the near record low volatility collapse of 1993 did not end well either for stocks, or for bonds, with the great 1994 bond tantrum. Reminding us of that, and of broader implications for the cross-asset space, is SocGen's Kit Juckes with his overnight note, "The ghost of 1993"

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Swiss happy with chemical controls in Geneva

2017-05-12

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2017-05-12

Despite a lack of progress to limit products such as asbestos and the herbicide paraquat, Switzerland is largely pleased with the results of a summit on chemicals and hazardous waste held in Geneva. “We obtained much more than we expected,” Franz Perrez, the head of international affairs at the Federal Environment Office, told the Swiss News Agency on Friday.

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A Problem Emerges: Central Banks Injected A Record $1 Trillion In 2017… It’s Not Enough

2017-05-11

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2017-05-11

Aggregate Balance Sheet Of Large Central Banks, 2000 - 2017
Two weeks ago Bank of America caused a stir when it calculated that central banks (mostly the ECB & BoJ) have bought $1 trillion of financial assets just in the first four months of 2017, which amounts to $3.6 trillion annualized, "the largest CB buying on record."

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UBS escapes shareholder rebellion fate of rival

2017-05-09

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2017-05-09

UBS shareholders overwhelmingly approved executive bonuses at the bank’s annual general meeting on Thursday. Why such a difference from the Credit Suisse shareholder rebellion seen just one week ago?

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“Mystery” Central Bank Buyer Revealed, Goes On Q1 Buying Spree

2017-05-08

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2017-05-08

Nikkei 225 vs. BoJ ETF Holdings 2011-2017
In the first few months of the year, a trading desk rumor emerged that even as institutional traders dumped stocks and retail investors piled into ETFs, a "mystery" central bank was quietly bidding up risk assets by aggressively buying stocks. And no, it was not the BOJ: while the Japanese Central Bank's interventions in the stock market are familiar to all by now, and as we reported last night on sessions when the "the BoJ comes in big, the...

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Sweden’s Gold Reserves: 10,000 gold bars (pet rocks) shrouded in Official Secrecy

2017-04-28

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2017-04-28

In February 2017 while preparing for a presentation in Gothenburg about central bank gold, I emailed Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, enquiring whether the Riksbank physically audits Sweden’s gold and whether it would provide me with a gold bar weight list of Sweden’s gold reserves (gold bar holdings). The Swedish official gold reserves are significant and amount to 125.7 tonnes, making the Swedish nation the world’s 28th largest official gold...

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Where There’s Smoke…

2017-04-25

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2017-04-25

Evolution of Atlanta Fed GDP, December 2016 - April 2017
Central banks around the world have colluded, if not conspired, to elevate and prop up financial asset prices. Here we'll present the data and evidence that they've not only done so, but gone too far. When we discuss elevated financial asset prices we really are talking about everything; we're talking not just about the sky-high prices of stocks and bonds, but also of the trillions of dollars’ worth of derivatives that are linked to them, as well...

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Credit Suisse Offices Raided In Multiple Tax Probes: Gold Bars, Paintings, Jewelry Seized

2017-04-01

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2017-04-01

Credit Suisse has confirmed that the Swiss bank, some of its employees and hundreds of account holders are the subjects of a major tax evasion probe launched in UK, France, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, setting back Swiss attempts to clean up its image as a haven for tax evaders.

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The Market Has Its Head Buried Deep In The Sand

2017-03-30

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2017-03-30

shutterstock
Several “black swans” are looming which could inflict a financial nuclear accident on the U.S. markets and financial system. I say “black swans” in quotes because a limited audience is aware of these issues – potentially catastrophic problems that are curiously ignored by the mainstream financial media and financial markets.

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SNB Spent $68 Billion On Currency Manipulation In 2016

2017-03-24

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2017-03-24

SNB Intervention, 2010 - 2017
While Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with China for manipulating its currency, he appears to have recently figured out that over the past 2 years Beijing has been spending hundreds of billions in dollar to strengthen, not weaken, the Yuan and to halt the ~$1 trillion in capital flight from China.

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Digital Gold – For Now Caveat Emptor

2017-03-20

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2017-03-20

Bitcoin Gold, 2012 - 2017
Bitcoin surpasses gold price - a psychological and arbitrary headline. Royal Mint blockchain gold asks you to trust in the UK government. Royal Canadian Mint and GoldMoney blockchain product asks you to trust in government and the technology, servers, websites etc of the providers. Invest in a gold mine using cryptocurrency - but wait until 2022 for your gold and trust the miners that it is there. Blockchain and gold will likely make a "good...

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