Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

‘You don’t have dozens and dozens of people employed on your Russia desks if you are not making money in Russia,’ says one senior private banker in Switzerland Keystone / Yuri Kochetkov January used to be a big month for Swiss bankers and their Russian clients. Many of the Moscow elite had made a tradition of coming to the Alps for the orthodox new year, skiing with their families, then catching up with their financial consiglieri. In St Moritz, one banker recalls...

SECO lowered this year’s GDP growth forecast from 2.8% (in March) to 2.6%. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally The Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has downgraded its economic growth forecast for 2022 to 2.6% due to the war in Ukraine and uncertainties in China. “The Swiss economy made a solid start to the year, but prospects for the international environment have waned,” SECO saidExternal link on Wednesday. “In particular, the global economy is at risk from the...

Zurich’s Kunsthaus, where the Bührle collection is a reminder of the moral hazards of neutrality. © Keystone / Walter Bieri Sanctions imposed on Russia have focused debate over the country’s long-cherished economic haven status. In the gleaming new Chipperfield extension of the Zurich Kunsthaus, all polished limestone and gold, is a room dedicated to expiating the moral debits of economic neutrality. The Bührle collection is one of the greatest privately-amassed...

State Street denied the Credit Suisse takeover rumours last week. © Keystone / Walter Bieri Switzerland’s typically liberal mergers and acquisitions market might make an exception for such a national institution. There are few statues of heroes in downtown Zurich. But of those that exist, by far the grandest is that of Credit Suisse’s founder, Alfred Escher. It is hard to imagine a foreign acquirer buying such a national institution, though Credit Suisse’s shares...

The requests for administrative assistance concern bank accounts of US clients who had not previously given their consent to the handing over of their account data © Keystone / Gaetan Bally The US tax authority IRS wants further information from the Swiss authorities on account data at 26 financial institutions. The IRS has made numerous requests for information in the past. The requests for administrative assistance concern bank accounts of US clients who had not...

A Russian soldier guards an area of the Mariupol Sea Port in eastern Ukraine. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, commodity prices have soared and trade flows have been redrawn. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Geneva-based Trafigura reported record half-year profits as volatility and disruption in commodity markets, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, supercharged earnings for the world’s biggest traders. The group’s net...

© Ys7485 | Dreamstime.com On 10 June 2022, Switzerland’s government adopted the latest set of EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus, including an embargo on crude oil and certain refined petroleum imports from Russia. The sanctions are the sixth package and were adopted by the EU on 3 June 2022. An embargo on oil imports from Russia by sea will be introduced progressively from early December 2022, and a ban on all Russian oil imports will then start two months...

Almost half of respondents backed a levy of CHF30 for short-haul flights and CHF120 for long-haul flights Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi Almost three-quarters (72%) of respondents to a Swiss survey are in favour of increasing the price of airline tickets for climate reasons. In the event of an introduction, 42% of respondents back a levy of CHF30 ($30.40) for short-haul flights and CHF120 for long-haul flights; 50% agreed with higher charges. Younger people were more...

Booking.com says it levies a 12% fee on reservations made over its online platform for a variety of services including promotion. © Keystone/Gaetan Bally Parliament has approved restrictions on online reservation platforms to protect the Swiss hotel sector. Senators on Wednesday came out in favour of a legal reform to fight unfair competition. In line with the House of Representatives, the Senate approved proposals to allow hotel websites to undercut prices and other...

The United States blacklisted NSO in November 2021 over the abuse of the powerful Pegasus cyberweapon by its clients. Keystone / Atef Safadi Credit Suisse pushed for NSO Group to keep selling its Pegasus spyware to new customers just weeks after the US blacklisted the Israeli cyberweapon manufacturer, saying authoritarian regimes had used its hacking tool to silence dissent. The request was made in a December letter by lawyers representing the Swiss bank and some of...