Tag Archives: 3.) Swiss Info

Former CONMEBOL presidents Juan Angel Napout (left) and Nicolas Leoz in December 2014. Napout was arrested in 2015 in a pre-dawn raid at a Swiss luxury hotel as part of the US Department of Justice’s widening bribery case into FIFA. In May 2014, Leoz was indicted along with 14 other football officials by the US Department of State on charges of bribery, racketeering and money laundering. Swiss criminal proceedings against Leoz were abandoned after his death in August...

Parts of the Swiss economy that depend on global demand, such as international tourism, still face a tough time Keystone Swiss economic output will shrink by 3.8% this year, a less bad coronavirus-triggered slump than previously expected, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said on Monday. The latest SECO forecast was an improvement from its June outlook, when it said it expected Swiss gross domestic product (GDP) would fall by 6.2% this year, the worst...

Ruag has numerous production sites across Switzerland, notably a plant at Emmen near Lucerne that produces elements for space rockets. Keystone/Urs Flüeler The Swiss aerospace and armament company, Ruag, says it will shed up to 150 jobs by the end of next year due to the coronavirus crisis. A 30% drop in sales of aircraft structures over the past seven months and the restructuring of the company are the main reason for the job cuts notably in IT, finance and human...

Urban hotels have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus effect on business and international tourism. Keystone / Urs Flueeler Swiss hotels are predicting a worsening outlook, as newspapers warn thousands of jobs could be lost in the sector. According to the latest survey by sector association HotellerieSuisse  at the beginning of this month, more than a third of hotels (37%) say they will have to lay off staff in the coming months. The rate is particularly...

The southeastern region of Madre de Dios in Peru is known for its illegal gold mining practices, but Chave insists PX Precinox does not source any of its precious metal from there. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. In a rare interview, PX Precinox CEO Philippe Chave defends his company’s record in Peru and says abandoning artisanal miners is not the way to achieve more sustainable and transparent mining practices. For years reports of...

As a Swiss bank gets slapped for breaching money-laundering rules, this sculpture in Caracas pays homage to the oil workers of Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA). Keystone / Rayner Pena R The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has found that Banca Credinvest “seriously violated money-laundering regulations” in its handling of Venezuelan client relationships. On Tuesday the watchdog announced that it had ordered the Ticino-based bank to monitor all...

Easyjet Switzerland says it doesn’t expect a return to pre-Covid 19 business levels until 2023. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas Faced with lower demand and with no recovery expected anytime soon, EasyJet Switzerland is withdrawing two of its 12 planes stationed in Basel. Seventy jobs will be lost. Making the announcement on Tuesday, the airline company said it was consulting staff representatives on the fate of the jobs concerned. “EasyJet Switzerland has so far managed...

The University of Basel is one of the hacked institutions Keystone Unidentified cybercriminals have managed to siphon off employee salary transfers from at least three Swiss universities, including the University of Basel. “According to our information, several universities in Switzerland have been affected,” said Martina Weiss, Secretary General of the Rectors’ Conference of the Swiss Universities, confirming to the AFP news agency a report in the SonntagsZeitung....

Though they are hardly on their last legs, demand for office space will drop. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Despite the easing of Covid-19 measures, remote working is still widespread in Switzerland, with almost a third of service sector employees still working from home. According to a survey published on Thursday by the Credit Suisse bank and the Procure.ch purchasing managers association, 29% of service employees and 16% of industry employees in Switzerland are...

Researchers insist that not only can people live longer, but they can also enjoy a healthier life. Keystone / Fernando Bizerra Jr. A group of wealthy investors is gathering virtually in Switzerland to stake their money on a new asset class. It’s longevity, underpinned by the science and technology of longer and healthier lives, and it could be a multi-billion-dollar market. “Longevity will become one of the largest investment opportunities in the coming decades. It...