SNB & CHF

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.03% to 1.1703 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 02(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar’s slump seen in the final two weeks of 2017 is carried into today’s activity. The greenback’s sell-off extends to the emerging market currencies as well. The Hungarian forint is the strongest rising nearly 1%, ostensibly...

©_Toscawhi _ Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The current rate of 8% is set to drop on 1 January 2018. Temporarily increased by 0.4% in 2011 to shore up funding for disability welfare, the rate will revert to 7.7%. The 0.1% difference between the new rate and pre 2011 rate of 7.6% is a new increase that will be used to help finance rail infrastructure. Switzerland has three VAT rates: a standard rate (8%), a hotel...

The lawsuit paperwork amounts to more than 100,000 pages (© KEYSTONE / ENNIO LEANZA) - Click to enlarge Some 6,000 people in Switzerland have banded together to sue German car manufacturer Volkswagen and a Swiss car dealer for damages related to the exhaust scandal. The Consumer Protection Organisation (SKS)external link announced on Friday that it had filed a claim on behalf of about 6,000 car owners at...

Gold, Bitcoin and the Blockchain Replaces the Banks – Realists Guide To The Future – Futurist guide to 2028 shows a world of uncertainty and disruption– One scenario suggests cybersecurity attacks will result in bitcoin and blockchain’s dominance of financial systems– Cybersecurity threat will still loom large and wreak havoc. Gold, silver and other real assets will benefit.– Adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain...

Financial and political power are two sides of one coin. We all know the rich are getting richer, and the super-rich are getting super-richer. This reality is illustrated in the chart of income gains, the vast majority of which have flowed to the top .01%–not the top 1%, or the top .1% — to the very tippy top of the wealth-power pyramid: Though all sorts of reasons have been offered to explain this trend–I’ve...

Remarkable and Extraordinary Growth Good cheer has arrived at precisely the perfect moment. You can really see it. Record stock prices, stout economic growth, and a GOP tax reform bill to boot. Has there ever been a more flawless week leading up to Christmas? Here’s what really happened: the government’s minions confiscated everything Santa had on him when he crossed the border and then added it to GDP. - Click to...

Note that widening wealth and income inequality is a non-partisan trend. One of the core goals of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies of the past 9 years is to generate the “wealth effect”: by pushing the valuations of stocks and bonds higher, American households will feel wealthier, and hence be more willing to borrow and spend, even if they didn’t actually reap any gains by selling stocks and bonds that gained...

Nestlé, who else? Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos (r) drinks a coffee with Nespresso CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin in Bogota in November. With a market value of $264 billion (CHF258 billion), Nestlé has claimed second place in Europe behind Royal Dutch Shell ($276 billion) in global rankings published by consultancy EY on Friday. However, that only put them in 17th and 18th place respectively, well below the global...

Demand for food parcels in Switzerland has increased by more than 38% over two years, highlighting the issue of poverty in the country. One in four Swiss people experiences financial difficulties and has no money left over for food at the end of the month, especially in Geneva. (RTS/swissinfo.ch) --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more...

A plane lands at Zurich Airport, which handled more than two million passengers in November 2017 Swiss business hubs like Zurich are more globally accessible than they were a few years ago. According to the latest “accessibility index” from economic research institute BAK Economicsexternal link in Basel, Zurich has jumped in the rankings from 34 to 28. This is due to improved connections to business hubs in China, India...