Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

The Swiss Senate sitting in Bern earlier this week. (Keystone / Anthony Anex) The Swiss parliament has given the go-ahead for a free trade deal with Indonesia, although not without debates about sustainability and the Asian country’s production of palm oil. Almost exactly a year after the deal was signed between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Indonesia, the Swiss parliament gave its green light on Thursday. Switzerland and EFTA members Liechtenstein,...

Rail accidents are rare in Switzerland (© Keystone / Urs Flueeler) There has been a fall in the number of accidents and fatalities on the Swiss railways, according to new national figures. On Tuesday, the Federal Statistical Office reported a total of 70 rail accidents and 14 deaths in 2018. This is the lowest number of annual fatalities since 2011.  In the 2000s there were between 200 and 282 reported accidents each year and 20-40 deaths, excluding suicides on the...

Poverty may not always be visible, but it affects some 100,000 children in Switzerland. (Keystone) Although Switzerland is rich, poverty within the country continues to rise, says a report released on Tuesday. Poverty affected 675,000 people including 100,000 children in 2017, a 10% increase on the previous year, according to the reportexternal link (in French) by the non-governmental organisation Caritasexternal link. In 2014, poverty affected 6.7% of the population...

According to the plans, the cablecar would have 18 cabins, each able to carry 34 people between the Mythenquai beach on one side of the lake to the Zurichhorn park on the other. (Keystone) A Zurich court has rejected plans for a cablecar link crossing over Lake Zurich, stating that the project, known as ‘Zuribahn’, did not have sufficient local support. The court annulled construction plans for the city cablecar, which had been presented by Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB)...

VW was caught using illegal software to cheat pollution tests in 2015, triggering a global backlash against diesel and numerous court cases around the world that have so far cost the German company €30 billion euros ($33 billion). (Keystone / Julian Stratenschulte) A Zurich commercial court has dismissed claims for damages by a consumer group against the German car firm Volkswagen and Swiss importer Amag, linked to the “Dieselgate” emissions-rigging scandal. In a...

In October of this year the bank cleared Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam of snooping on former wealth management boss Iqbal Khan in an episode that saw suicide, scandal and espionage invade the secretive world of Swiss private banking. (© Keystone / Ennio Leanza) A senior Credit Suisse human resources executive was tailed by private investigators in February, the Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) newspaper reported on Tuesday. The Swiss bank was rocked by a highly damaging...

[embedded content] Commuters got their first proper taste on Monday of what’s been hailed as the largest cross-border regional rail network in Europe, the Léman Express. The network, which opened officially on Sunday, is the result of decades of planning and almost eight years of construction work. It offers a fast cross-city rail link from Geneva’s central train station to Annemasse in France. The regional cross-border network is much bigger, extending across...

Novartis has aborted its latest patent filing at the European Patent Office. (Keystone / Georgios Kefalas) Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has backed down in a patent dispute over the leukaemia therapy Kymriah following opposition from NGOs. The Swiss NGO Public Eye is claiming victory in the European Patent Officeexternal link battle, but Novartis says the patent in question was only one of several it has in place on the (CAR)-T cell therapy treatment it had...

The 2020 Olympic Games is expected to raise the bar for the economy – but only temporarily. (Keystone / Lukas Coch) The Swiss economy is not expected to see any sustainable growth until 2021 at the earliest, according to government forecasters. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) agreed, keeping negative interest rates unchanged. A government expert group concluded that economic growth would rise only 0.9% this year, 1.7% in 2020 and 1.2% in 2021. However, much of the...

Most investments went to Europe (Keystone / A3250/_oliver Berg) Companies in Switzerland invested double the amount abroad in 2018 than the previous year, figures show. But foreign investors withdrew capital from Switzerland due to a US tax reform. In 2018, companies domiciled in Switzerland invested CHF 61 billion abroad ($62 billion) (compared to CHF30 billion in 2017). Around three-quarters of the direct investment were from firms in the services sector, the Swiss...