Tag Archives: 3.) Swiss Info

Relations between Thiam and Rohner appear to have been deteriorating. (Keystone / Walter Bieri) Credit Suisse’s top shareholders have thrown their support behind chief executive Tidjane Thiam and called on chairman Urs Rohner to quit, in a high-stakes power struggle at the Swiss bank following a spy scandal last year. Relations between Mr Rohner and Mr Thiam have been increasingly strained since revelations that Credit Suisse hired a corporate espionage company to...

In Switzerland, 133,000 employed persons are affected by poverty, both in terms of income and deprivation. (© Keystone / Georgios Kefalas) About a third of the food produced for Swiss consumption went to waste last year, according to the food bank foundation Schweizer Tafe/Table Suisse. That is the equivalent of 2.6 million tonnes of food. Five percent of the losses occurred in the retail trade. The foundation collected 3,820 tonnes of food that was not for sale but...

The Titlis mountain is a key destination for Chinese tourists in Switzerland. The tourism industry in central Switzerland could benefit from increased efforts to focus on individual holidaymakers from China, according to a study. A report by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Artsexternal link found that guests from China travelling individually in Europe take a special interest in culinary events and that they are likely to receive information about new...

The private bank wants to boost profitability with a new three-year strategy - Click to enlarge Swiss wealth manager Julius Bär will cut 300 jobs this year, its chief executive said on Monday, as it looks to boost profitability after a double-digit percentage earnings fall in 2019. The private bank wants to boost profitability with a new three-year strategy to deal with continued margin pressures, Philipp Rickenbacher said. The Zurich-based lender aims to improve...

Nick Puentner from Switzerland took part in the men’s snowboard big air event at the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games, in Leysin, Switzerland on January 22, 2020 (Keystone / Valentin Flauraud) Sports-related activities are worth CHF22.2 billion ($22.8 billion) a year to the Swiss economy, a national report has revealed. Overall, sport accounts for 1.7% of Swiss gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report external linkby the Federal Office of Sport...

The greatest increase in concern has been about radiation from mobile phone antennas, such as this one in Zurich, and high-voltage power lines (Keystone) Dirt, noise, radiation, climate, loss of species: the Swiss population believes that environmental pollution has increased and continues to increase. Some 61% perceive this as a very serious or quite serious problem. In 2015, only 39% were so pessimistic. Well-being and satisfaction have declined in all areas – in...

(Keystone / Martin Ruetschi) Swiss start-ups and young companies attracted nearly CHF2.3 billion ($2.4 billion) from deep-pocketed investors last year. The figure is nearly double the CHF1.2 billion collected in 2018 and sets a new record. New ventures in the ICT and fintech sectors received the largest slice of funding (CHF1.2 billion), but financial support for early stage biotech firms also received a significant boost (CHF625 million), according to the annual...

Swiss watch manufacturers exported timepieces worth over CHF21 billion ($21.7 billion) last year – the industry’s third-best result ever. Watchmaking is Switzerland’s third-biggest export sector after pharmaceutical and machine tools. Almost 95% of production is sold abroad, the majority to Asia. First the good news. Despite a complicated business year which saw a net drop in sales in Hong Kong, the main destination for Swiss-made watches, firms ended 2019 extremely...

(© Keystone / Christian Beutler) The company recently won a bid to build and run an airport near India’s capital and has its sights set on other emerging markets in Asia. In November 2019, Zürich Flughafen AG (Zurich Airport) won a 40-year contract to build and operate the planned Noida International Airport in Jewar, located around 80km from the country’s capital, New Delhi. With an investment of CHF650 million ($670 million) expected for the first phase of...

The cost of renting apartments continues to rise in Swiss cities. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Rental prices in Swiss cities became markedly more expensive last year even though vacancy rates are increasing in Switzerland. The latest study from real estate portal Homegate.ch reveals the disparity between urban and rural areas. Zurich saw the biggest leap in rental prices in 2019, rising 3.3% in the year. This compares to a 0.6% average rental hike across the country....