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This week EU Finance ministers came out with a list of countries it thinks don’t measure up to its definition of good tax behaviour. © Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime There are two categories: blacklist and so-called “grey list”. Black is bad and grey is heading toward good, but not yet there. Switzerland is on the “grey list”. To stay off the list, countries must have fair tax rules, which are defined as not offering preferential measures or arrangements that enable companies to move profits to...

It’s the question lurking in many people’s minds, especially during the frenzy of online Christmas shopping: has my email account been hacked? © Igor Stevanovic | Dreamstime MELANI has got your back – up to a point. The Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI), is part of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service. They have recently come into possession of a database with 21,000 combinations of compromised email usernames and passwords. Intriguingly, the list was supplied...

Many Swiss residents travel to neighbouring eurozone countries for their holidays. These countries are close and Swiss francs go far there. However, to get the most out of a strong currency you need a good exchange rate. © Mohamed Ahmed Soliman | Dreamstime If a Swiss resident presenting euro cash at a checkout in Germany or France was told they couldn’t pay in euros because they live in Switzerland – “I’m sorry sir but you live in Switzerland, you must pay in Swiss francs at our inflated...

Many Swiss residents travel to neighbouring eurozone countries for their holidays. These countries are close and Swiss francs go far there. However, to get the most out of a strong currency you need a good exchange rate. © Mohamed Ahmed Soliman | Dreamstime If a Swiss resident presenting euro cash at a checkout in Germany or France was told they couldn’t pay in euros because they live in Switzerland – “I’m sorry sir but you live in Switzerland, you must pay in Swiss francs at our inflated...

There are two divergent views on the crackdown on corruption by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), which led to the arrest and detention of 200 princes, ministers and former ministers. On one hand, it was a masterstroke which will earn political capital with the Saudi people and catalyse an Arab Spring in which MBS is a modernizing reformer who will liberalise Islam.   On the other, it was nothing other than a cynical and desperate attempt to tighten his grip...

Here's the latest sign that the massively fraudulent ICO market is headed for a collapse. Tezos’s investors are still waiting to learn when they can expect to receive the digital tokens that they paid a premium for during the company’s record-setting crowdsale. But as reports of abuse, internal strife and outright embezzlement have surfaced in the press, three groups of angry investors have filed class action lawsuits accusing the company of fraud and securities violations. In...

After the Swiss mountain village of Albinen hatched a plan to pay parents (CHF 25,000 each) and children (CHF 10,000 each) to move there, it has been inundated with applicants. [embedded content] Articles about the offer have been published by Time, The Sunday Times, The Sun, El Pais, and many other publications. Rather than celebrating, the picturesque town’s administration is unhappy. It published a statement on its website accusing the media of false reports that have created unnecessary...

According to the newspaper Bilanz, Amazon has signed an agreement with Swiss post to provide rapid customs clearance. The head of postal customs, Felix Stierli, confirmed discussions with the company. © Calvin Leake | Dreamstime A maximum customs clearance time of 3 hours will allow 24-hour delivery, one element of Amazon’s Prime offer. Once Prime is available, Swiss customers will be able to access most of the company’s complete online offer, which includes 229 million products. Rather than...

According to the newspaper Bilanz, Amazon has signed an agreement with Swiss post to provide rapid customs clearance. The head of postal customs, Felix Stierli, confirmed discussions with the company. © Calvin Leake | Dreamstime A maximum customs clearance time of 3 hours will allow 24-hour delivery, one element of Amazon’s Prime offer. Once Prime is available, Swiss customers will be able to access most of the company’s complete online offer, which includes 229 million products. Rather than...

If you’ve ever wondered what families in Switzerland spend on groceries, then here is a breakdown. Figures are taken from mean household income and expenditure data recently published by the Federal Statistical office for 2015. More on this:Federal Statistical Office report (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.