Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

© David Carillet | Dreamstime.com In Switzerland, the revenue poverty line is income of CHF 27,108 (US$ 27,490) a year for someone living alone and CHF 47,880 (US$ 48,550) for a family of four. In 2017, the percentage of Switzerland’s population living below the poverty line was 8.2% or 675,000 people. In 2016, the percentage was 7.6%. Those most likely to be below the poverty line are those in single parent families...

Healthcare is one of the key job sectors of the future, analysts say. Retiring baby-boomers and a shifting job market could mean a shortfall of up to 500,000 workers in Switzerland over the next decade, UBS forecasts. The bank proposes plugging the hole not only by immigration, but also by boosting more old and female workers. Basing its projections on long-term employment statistics, the bank says that the number of...

Swiss exports – © Alan Stoddard | Dreamstime.com According to an analysis by the Swiss broadcaster RTS, Switzerland’s EU exports have declined in recent years. Over the first quarter of 2019, for the first time, exports to the US exceeded those to Germany by more than CHF 1 billion reaching CHF 15.7 billion. Exports to the US have risen from 8.3% to 16.3% of total Swiss exports over the last 30 years. Another Swiss...

Presenting the new version of the CHF1,000 note, March 2019. The amount of Swiss CHF1,000 notes that are hoarded rather than being used in the economy for payments could be as high as 87%, a study by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has shown. The reportexternal link, “Demand for Swiss banknotes: some new evidence”, estimates the volume of Swiss banknotes being stashed – rather than spent or invested – over the period...

Are Switzerland’s millionaires going to have to put the bubbly on ice? After seven years of growth, both the number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) around the world and their total wealth declined in 2018, according to the latest World Wealth Reportexternal link by consultants Capgemini. This trend was also seen in Switzerland. The total assets of HNWIs – defined by Capgemini as people with investable assets of at...

Tracks at La Plaine in canton Geneva buckled due to recent hot weather, preventing TGV trains from running between Geneva and France. The international TGV rail link between Geneva and France, which had been affected by the hot weather, has been repaired. Trains have been running since 5am on Sunday. Hot weather had buckled the tracks at La Plaine in canton Geneva, requiring repair work on Saturday, the Swiss Federal...

Geneva – © Hai Huy Ton That | Dreamstime.com In 2019, Switzerland came top overall in a ranking of destinations for expatriates to live and work, moving up from eighth last year. Singapore, which had held the top spot for four years in the HSBC’s list of the best countries for expatriates, dropped to second place. Switzerland scored highly on salaries (1st), stability (1st), education (2nd) and quality of life. 82% of...

Quantum Global founder Jean-Claude Bastos was released from an Angolan jail last March after reaching a confidential settlement with the Angolan sovereign fund. The Angolan authorities dropped all charges against him. The Office of the Attorney General has closed an investigation into events surrounding the Zug-based asset manager Quantum Global and its founder Jean-Claude Bastos, the firm says. Bastos has been in the...

For the third year running, newly registered cars in Switzerland have failed to meet the national CO2 emissions target, largely due to the growth in the number of 4x4s and fall in diesel cars, the Federal Office of Energy has warned. Car importers had to pay CHF30 million ($30.4 million) in fines into a national road fund after failing to meet vehicle CO2 emission objectives in 2018, the federal office said in a...

Workers will have the option of playing different cards to determine their retirement age and pension return. The Swiss government plans to incrementally increase the retirement age of women to 65 while offering incentives for all people to work longer. The CHF2.8 billion ($2.84 billion) savings measures would be accompanied by a sales tax hike and extra pension payments for hardship cases. On Wednesday, Swiss interior...