The Brexit date of 29th March has been delayed to the 12th April or the 22nd May as the EU provide a lifeline to the UK to help them avoid a no-deal scenario. This has helped the pound to rise and has provided some of the best rates to buy Swiss Francs in many months. The outlook for the pound is now looking much less rosy as investors await the latest news on Brexit and to see if the House of Commons will be likely to...
Read More »Cool Video: Bloomberg–Sterling and the Euro
I joined Shey Ann and Amanda Lang on the Bloomberg set to talk about sterling and the euro. The media makes it sound like there was a coup in the UK and Parliament has taken control of Brexit. This is an exaggeration. The House of Commons did secure tomorrow to have “indicative votes” on the different alternatives. These votes are not binding on the Prime Minister who as already indicated some alternatives that she will...
Read More »Additional flaw found in Swiss Post e-voting system
This is the second flaw in the Swiss Post future e-voting system discovered during the public intrusion test phase. (Keystone) A second error in the Swiss Post planned e-voting system has been discovered as the public intrusion test phase comes to an end. The Federal Chancellery announced the need for action and confirmed a review of the e-voting certification and approval process. The same computer experts who...
Read More »Merger mania: Consolidation in the gold mining sector
Late last year, Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold miner in terms of reserves, made headlines when it announced its acquisition of Randgold Resources, in an $18bn mega-merger that marked a key moment for the mining industry. In January, United States gold giant Newmont and principal rival of Barrick, made public its own plans to buy Canada’s Goldcorp, the world’s third-largest bullion producer by market value, for...
Read More »When Are We Going to Tackle the For-Profit Monopolies Which Censored RussiaGate Skeptics?
We either take down Facebook and Google and turn them into tightly regulated transparent public utilities available to all or they will destroy what little is left of American democracy. The RussiaGate Narrative has been revealed as a Big Con (a.k.a. Nothing-Burger), but what’s dangerously real is the censorship that’s being carried out by the for-profit monopolies Facebook and Google on behalf of the status quo’s Big...
Read More »Germany: signs of rebound ?
German growth may remain subdued in H1 2019, before picking up somewhat in H2 2019 as some near-term risks dissipate. Germany’s leading indicator, the Ifo index, rose in March, driven by an increase in both sub-components: current assessment and expectations. The Ifo index differs in make-up from Markit’s purchasing manager indexes, but at the sector level, the story is the same: the more domestically driven services...
Read More »1999: Chinese president snubs Swiss government
On March 25, 1999, Chinese President Jiang Zemin was confronted by pro-Tibetan protesters upon his arrival at the seat of parliament in Bern. Furious, he refused to participate in a guard of honour or to greet government members waiting to receive him. In his speech, he sharply criticised the Swiss authorities, accusing them of not being capable of maintaining order and told them they had lost a good friend. (SRF/swissinfo.ch) --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss...
Read More »1999: Chinese president snubs Swiss government
On March 25, 1999, Chinese President Jiang Zemin was confronted by pro-Tibetan protesters upon his arrival at the seat of parliament in Bern. Furious, he refused to participate in a guard of honour or to greet government members waiting to receive him. In his speech, he sharply criticised the Swiss authorities, accusing them of not being capable of maintaining order and told them they had lost a good friend. (SRF/swissinfo.ch) --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss...
Read More »FX Daily, March 26: Semblance of Stability Re-Emerging
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.06% at 1.1231 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The sell-off in equities seemed to peak yesterday, and US indices were narrowly mixed. Traders found comfort in that performance, even though the S&P 500 finished a little below 2800, and took the markets in the Asia-Pacific region...
Read More »Swiss parliament calls for more online purchases to be taxed
© Panuwat Dangsungnoen | Dreamstime.com Since 1 January 2019, companies abroad making more than CHF 100,000 in revenue must charge Swiss VAT on sales made to anyone in Switzerland. Now the Swiss government has decided to take aim at online platforms such as Aliexpress and Wish, according to the broadcaster RTS. Rather than chasing foreign companies selling products in Switzerland, Beat Vonlanthen, an MP from Fribourg,...
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