Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

A former top lobbyist for Uber says the firm wilfully ignored regulations when it began operating in Switzerland in 2013. Uber says it has since updated its working model. By choosing to act first and apologise later in implementing its gig-economy model, Uber “massively undermined” democracy in many countries, including Switzerland, former lobbyist Mark MacGann told Tamedia newspapers on Saturday. MacGann was Uber’s chief lobbyist in Europe between 2014 and 2016...

Travellers at Geneva airport in December © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott While countries around the world impose curbs on travellers from China as Covid-19 cases there surge, the Swiss authorities are still weighing up possible measures. On Wednesday health experts from the 27 EU member states couldn’t agree on compulsory testing for travellers from China, but they strongly recommended it. The EU health experts also recommended, among other things, that medical...

Keystone / Ennio Leanza A total of 50,015 companies set up in Switzerland last year thanks to a late surge in the last quarter. The number of new firms entering the marketplace has remained stable. The total corresponds to a drop of 1% compared to 2021 and an increase of 7% compared to 2020, according to data from commercial registers compiled by Help.ch published on Tuesday. The performance in 2022 is 27% higher than ten years ago, when 39,371 companies were...

In 2022, 17.3% of all new cars sold in Switzerland were 100% electric, while 8% were plug-in hybrid models, according to Swiss eMobility. Keystone/gaetan Bally Around one in four new cars purchased last year in Switzerland were either 100% electric or plug-in hybrid models. The country’s best-selling model was an electric car: the Tesla Model Y, the Swiss eMobility association reported on Monday. In 2022, 17.3% of all new cars sold were 100% electric, while 8% were...

People walking through the city centre of the Swiss capital, Bern © Keystone / Christian Beutler The Swiss population is set to surpass the 9 million mark in 2023, according to calculations by the SonntagsZeitung. “If the permanent and non-permanent resident population are added together, Switzerland is likely to exceed the threshold of nine million inhabitants this year,” the newspaper wrote on Sunday. Since the introduction of the free movement of people with...

Legal cases: Passengers can now claim more compensation for delayed or lost luggage Keystone / Alessandro Crinari From getting a drone licence to paying for Covid tests, here’s a selection of ten legal tweaks that came into force in Switzerland on January 1. AIRLINES: Passengers can claim more compensation for delayed or lost luggage – up to around CHF1,640 ($1,770). Previously it was CHF1,520. The tedious paperwork hasn’t changed, however. INHERITANCE LAW:...

Syngenta employees carry out research on corn in Stein, canton Aargau, in November 2021. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Firms invested CHF16.8 billion ($18 billion) in research and development (R&D) activities in Switzerland last year, a 4% increase compared to 2019. A survey carried out by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) and the Swiss Business Federation economiesuisse said the pharmaceutical sector was the biggest R&D investor (CHF6.2 billion, or 37% of the...

Switzerland plans to enact laws to prevent price manipulation and insider trading in its domestic energy markets. Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga unveiled the plans on Friday, saying the reforms are needed to secure Switzerland’s energy security. The proposed reforms would force energy companies to open their books to the energy regulator Elcom to give the authorities early warnings of supply problems. Insider trading and price manipulations are currently...

Buildings near Kyiv destroyed by a Russian airstrike on December 14. The war in Ukraine is one factor weighing down the Swiss economy. Keystone / Oleg Petrasyuk Growth forecasts for Switzerland have been revised downwards for the current year and 2023 by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute, amid fears of a global recession and the war in Ukraine. The economists also changed their predictions for inflation. The KOF Consensus Forecast expects gross domestic product (GDP)...

Christmas shoppers on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Swiss consumers have budgeted more for Christmas presents this year despite the growing spectre of inflation. The average shopper plans to splash out CHF343 ($367) on presents, up CHF9 from the average spend in 2021. The cost of consumer goods has risen around 3% in recent months, which is well below the inflation rate of other countries but still above the 2% target set by the Swiss National...