Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

‘Online shopping creates freedom,’ said the authors of the survey (Keystone) Only 3% of adult internet users buy nothing online, with the elderly most likely to stick to bricks-and-mortar shops, according to a survey. Online comparison service Comparis.ch said on Tuesday that whereas 6% of those aged 56-74 were yet to place an order online, the number of abstainers among 18- to 35-year-olds was less than 1%. By contrast, almost one surfer in two (48%) orders...

Lugano Airport in southern Switzerland is located 80km north of Milan in Italy. Lugano authorities have approved a series of loans to help save Lugano Airport in southern Switzerland, allowing it to operate for at least one more year. The regional airport has struggled since the bankruptcy of Darwin Airline and collapse of Adria Airways in September. On Monday, Lugano parliament followed the local government by voting in favour of three loans, totalling CHF5.7...

Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak’s third corruption trial opened earlier this month. He faces multiple corruption charges linked to the looting of the 1MDB fund, a scandal that contributed to his election defeat last year. Two bankers who worked at Coutts private bank in Zurich were fined by the Swiss authorities for failing to report suspicious transactions linked to the sovereign wealth fund 1MDB scandal, it was reported on Sunday. The Sonntag Zeitung and Le...

Patek Philippe’s steel Grandmaster Chime comes with a reversible dial plate, which can be seen here A CHF640 ($645) bar of chocolate is a sign of either the end of civilisation or a healthy market economy. Whatever your view, Switzerland holds several world records when it comes to expensive goods. “As the hammer came down on $31 million (CHF30.6 million), the audience leapt as one to its feet, erupting in wild cheering and thunderous applause,” the Financial Times...

(KEYSTONE/MARTIAL TREZZINI) Voters in Geneva have backed a local initiative calling for controlled development of the airport. According to initial results, 55.81% of voters said “yes” on Sunday to the constitutional initiative calling for the “democratic piloting of Geneva Airport”. Specifically, the initiativeexternal link is for tighter controls on the expansion of Geneva Airport, with noise and air pollution becoming a higher priority. Supporters of the...

Operation Car Wash began in March 2014 as an investigation into allegations that executives at Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras had accepted bribes from construction firms in return for awarding them contracts at inflated prices. (Keystone / Antonio Lacerda) Swiss investigators have executed searches at the Geneva offices of commodity traders Vitol and Trafigura at the request of Brazilian federal prosecutors as part of Brazil’s Lava Jato [Car Wash] corruption...

The amount of electricity consumed in Switzerland has fallen by 6.4% over the past 19 years Switzerland is on track to meet its short-term greener energy goals, but the government warns that more work needs to be done to meet more ambitious mid-term targets by 2035. The alpine country plans to be carbon neutral by 2050. On Thursday, the Federal Office of Energyexternal link released its second report that monitors national energy consumption and its effect on the...

Ueli Maurer reviews guards during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 29 (Keystone / Madoka Ikegami / Pool) Ueli Maurer, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, was set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday. It is Maurer’s fourth foreign visit this year that has raised eyebrows in Switzerland. Most controversial was his trip in October to Saudi Arabia, which had already been postponed after the...

[embedded content] On November 19, 1999, after eight years of construction, the Vereina Tunnel opened in eastern Switzerland. Connecting the Landquart – Davos Platz and the Bever – Scuol-Tarasp lines, the tunnel is 19 kilometres long and the journey through takes 18 minutes. In 20 years, it has brought various improvements to locals, tourists, and businesses. However, its construction had initially been opposed by some as it was feared that the tunnel would lead to...

Mikron’s factory in Agno, canton Ticino, has been hit by reduced demand from the automotive industry. (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) Swiss precision machine maker Mikron has laid off 25 workers, citing weak demand for its products from the global car industry. The news reflects pessimistic sentiment from Swiss manufacturers and the wider economy. Mikron announced on Tuesday that it would have to reduce headcount at a plant in southern Switzerland from its present...