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The Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, has confirmed a decision made by parliament to raise the minimum speed of broadband internet connections in Switzerland. © Andrey Metelev | Dreamstime.comFrom 1 January 2020, the minimum download speed specified in Switzerland’s universal service agreement with Swisscom will rise from 3 to 10 megabits per second (Mbits/s) and the minimum upload speed will rise from 0.3 to 1 Mbit/s. The change aims to boost social and economic activities...

According to a recent report by the bank Credit Suisse, the Swiss are worth more on average than the residents of any other nation. The bank’s annual Global Wealth Report calculates average net worth per Swiss adult to be US$ 564,653 (CHF 560,643) at mid-2019. The median figure was US$ 227,891 (CHF 226,273). © Marekusz | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s combined personal wealth of US$ 3.9 trillion represents 1.1% of the global total, while the nation’s population represents 0.1% of the...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB), Switzerland’s central bank, has earned CHF 388 million from negative interest rates since introducing them in 2014 to tame the rising strength of the Swiss Franc, according to the newspaper SonntagsBlick. Swiss National Bank – © J0hnb0y | Dreamstime.com On 15 January 2015, the SNB announced that it was abandoning its policy of maintaining an exchange rate cap of 1.20 francs to 1.00 euro. At the same time it increased negative interest on sight deposits...

Switzerland’s government has long discussed the importance of raising the retirement age to ensure the financial viability of the pension system. However, it is not clear whether voters would support such a plan. © Vadimgozhda | Dreamstime.comAccording to a survey by Deloitte, an accounting and consulting company, raising the official retirement age might not find majority support among Swiss voters. Some groups are firmly against the idea. Only 47% of the 1,000 voters between 50 and...

Climate change could soon cost Switzerland up to a billion francs a year in damage to infrastructure, according to an estimate by Switzerland’s Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC). © Stefano Ember | Dreamstime.comBetween now and 2050, higher temperatures and irregular rainfall could reduce the amount of electricity produced by Switzerland’s hydroelectric infrastructure by several hundred million francs a year, according to Christian Jaag, an...

An initiative demanding a ban on tobacco advertising has collected 109,969 valid signatures, more than the 100,000 minimum required to launch a popular vote, according to RTS. The planned vote entitled: “Yes to the protection of children and young people against tobacco advertising” demands the federal government ban all forms of tobacco advertising towards children and young people. In practice such a ban would include banning all tobacco advertising in public places, in cinemas, at...

In Switzerland, some married couples pay more tax than unmarried ones, something referred to as the marriage tax penalty. © Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime.comThe issue has been doing the rounds of the halls of Switzerland’s government for around 30 years. On 28 February 2016, a vote to change the current system was narrowly rejected by 50.8% of voters. Then in April 2019, the result of this referendum was reversed by the Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court, due to a...

Every quarter UBS, a bank, publishes its real estate bubble index, a report that covers real estate prices in 24 cities around the world. © Ppvector | Dreamstime.comIn the third quarter of 2019, Munich was listed as the most overvalued housing market in the world. Bubble risk was highest in Munich, Toronto, Hong Kong and Amsterdam. Frankfurt, Vancouver and Paris. London moved out of bubble risk territory while Paris and Frankfurt entered the risk zone for the first time....

In December 2017, the European Union (EU) set up a blacklist and a grey list of tax havens, countries it deemed were being used to help companies and wealthy individuals reduce their tax bills. Switzerland ended up on the grey list. © Neydtstock | Dreamstime.comNations on these lists faced reputational damage and stricter controls on financial transactions with the EU. On 10 October 2019, the European Commission reviewed the lists and removed Switzerland from the grey list after...

Switzerland made the the top 5, after dropping from 4th to 5th, in this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index. Switzerland’s decline was largely due to a down weighting of a factor where it is strong, according to WEF’s Saadia Zahidi. Solar Impulse 2 – an example of Swiss innovation – © Ryan Fletcher | Dreamstime.comThe Global Competitive Index measures performance in 114 areas that influence a nation’s productivity. Productivity, a measure of how much value is...