Tag Archive: Politics

Swiss banks asked to give Swiss expats fair deal

2017-07-06

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2017-07-06

ATM
New moves are underway in parliament to ensure that Swiss expatriates are granted unrestricted access to services of Swiss banks. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) says two motions were filed, asking the government to reform regulations, providing services, including credit cards of the state-owned Post Finance, to expats with the same conditions as Swiss residents.

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Switzerland signs up to corporate tax dodging remedy

2017-06-11

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2017-06-11

Switzerland has officially agreed to a raft of measures to combat the tax avoidance tricks of multinational companies. More than 100 countries have pledged to tackle the so-called base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) shenanigans. Huge companies, such as Starbucks, Amazon and Fiat, have been publically taken to task by the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over the way they distort their tax bills.

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Sweeteners proposed for revised corporate tax reform

2017-06-04

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2017-06-04

The government will consider a package of voter-friendly sweeteners, including extra child benefits, as it strives to breathe new life into controversial company tax reforms. The new proposals come less than four months after Swiss voters rejected a major overhaul of the corporation tax landscape.

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Remembering A Still Falling Hero: Small Business

2017-05-30

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2017-05-30

On this holiday weekend known here in the U.S. as Memorial Day, I would like to make a slight turn in the narrative that many give little to no attention too, yet, is one of the most important underlying principles or fundamentals which helped shape, lift, mold, sustain, and create one of the world’s greatest economic powerhouses bar none.

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Global Asset Allocation Update

2017-05-27

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2017-05-27

Moderate Allocation
There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds is unchanged at 50/50. There are, however, changes within the asset classes. We are reducing the equity allocation and raising the allocation to REITs. 

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Bi-Weekly Economic Review

2017-05-23

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2017-05-23

The economic data releases since the last update were generally upbeat but markets are forward looking and the future apparently isn’t to their liking. Of course, it is hard to tell sometimes whether bonds, the dollar and stocks are responding to the real economy or the one people hope Donald Trump can deliver when he isn’t busy contradicting his communications staff.

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Political Lobbying on the Rise in Switzerland

2017-05-21

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2017-05-21

Links between parliamentarians in Bern and lobby groups have grown steadily in recent years, according to a study by the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva. Between 2007 and 2015, these sorts of ties between interest groups and politicians increased by 20%.

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Swiss-German ‘spy’ drama raises hackles – and questions

2017-05-14

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2017-05-14

The sale of stolen Swiss banking data has centered on the German state of North Rhine Westphalia(Keystone) The arrest of a suspected Swiss spy in Germany has raised questions about what roles the Swiss secret service, the state public prosecutor and UBS bank played in the affair. The 54-year-old man, known as Daniel M, is accused of spying on the German tax authorities to find out who sold stolen Swiss banking data.His arrest...

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Bi-Weekly Economic Review

2017-04-25

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2017-04-25

bi-weekly
It wasn’t a very good two weeks for economic data with the majority of reports disappointing. Most notable I think is that the so called “soft data” is starting to reflect reality rather than some fantasy land where President Trump enacts his entire agenda in the first 100 days of being in office. Politics is about the art of the possible and that is proving a short list for now.

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Five Keys to Understand Trump

2017-04-01

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2017-04-01

The election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States surprised many people, even seasoned political observers and astute investors. He failed to win the popular vote but did carry the electoral college, which is how the US elects its chief executive. His victory is a bit of a Rorshcach test, where people project the issues that allowed Trump to succeed, with different observers making different claims.

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100 Years Ago, Russian Stocks Had A Very Bad Day

Russia Equity Index to 1900
In recent months, Ray Dalio seems to be undergoing a deep midlife and identity crisis, which has not only led to dramatic recent management changes at the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater, but also resulted in some fairly spectacular cognitive dissonance, as Dalio first praised, then slammed, president Trump.

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Proposal to remove Swiss home-owner tax rejected

2017-03-02

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2017-03-02

Property-tax-Switzerland, © Ronnie Wu | Dreamstime.com
In Switzerland, those who own the home they live in must add imputed rent to their income when calculating their income tax. This means owner-occupiers are taxed for living in their own homes, an odd concept for some who are new to Switzerland.

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Dollar Index: The Chart Everyone is Talking About

2017-02-21

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2017-02-21

Many are discussing a possible head-and-shoulders pattern in the Dollar Index. We are skeptical as other technical signals do not confirm. We recognize scope for disappointment over the border tax and the next batch of employment data, but European politics is the present driver and may not be alleviated soon.

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Martin Armstrong: “EU in Disintegration Mode”

2017-02-11

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2017-02-11

Net migration into Germany, 2006 - 2015
Famous market forecaster Martin Armstrong wrote a recent article describing the current situation in Europe. Similar to our article, “Trouble Brewing in the EU”, the Armstrong's piece discusses growing discontent and fractures in the E.U. Martin Armstrong observes that,

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China Says It Is Ready To Assume “World Leadership”, Slams Western Democracy As “Flawed”

2017-01-23

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2017-01-23

china flag
Over the weekend China used the Trump inauguration to warn about the perils of democracy, touting the relative stability of the Communist system as President Xi Jinping heads toward a twice-a-decade reshuffle of senior leadership posts.

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While Davos Elites Address Populism, Just “Eight Men Own Same Wealth As Half The World”

2017-01-17

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2017-01-17

World Economic Forum
As political and business elite gather at the Swiss ski resort of Davos, a new report is shining light on the shocking reality of the wealth gap between the very rich and poor that is “pull our societies apart.” A report by Oxfam released ahead the World Economic Forum in Davos shows the gap between the ultra-wealthy and the poorest half of the global population is starker than previously thought, with just eight men owning as much wealth as 3.6...

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Neo Feudalism and Basic Income

2017-01-12

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2017-01-12

Serfdom Sucks
It is difficult to say exactly how, or when, the next collapse will be triggered, but, as SHTFPlan.com's Mac Slavo notes, of course all the conditions are ripe for it. What can be certain is that the technocrats intent on controlling the future are already engineering the post-collapse society.

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First ZeroHedge Symposium and Live Fight Club

2017-01-12

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2017-01-12

Fight club MARFA
For over four decades, many of the planet's biggest trouble makers and assholes have met each year in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum with the humble mission of, "Improving the state of the world."

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Money, Markets, & Mayhem – What To Expect In The Year Ahead

2017-01-05

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2017-01-05

Houses
If you thought 2016 was full of market maelstroms and geopolitical gotchas, 2017's 'known unknowns' suggest a year of more mayhem awaits... Here's a selection of key events in the year ahead (and links to Bloomberg's quick-takes on each).

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FX Outlook 2017: Politics to Eclipse Economics

2016-12-26

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2016-12-26

Economic Events: United Kingdom, Week December 26
Investors are familiar with a broad set of macroeconomic variables that often drive asset prices. Many are familiar with corporate balance sheets, price-earning ratios, free cash flow, Q-ratio, and the like.

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