Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

Major banks, like UBS, are coming under increasing pressure to clean up their investments. Keystone / Ennio Leanza As businesses were gearing up for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, one of Europe’s larger banks released an update on how it planned to do its bit to combat global warming. Switzerland’s UBS group said it had become a founding member of the new Net Zero Banking Alliance, a UN-convened club of mostly western banks committed to decarbonising...

The Swiss central bank has again profited from its interventions in the foreign exchange markets. © Keystone / Ti-press / Alessandro Crinari The Swiss National Bank (SNB) expects to post a profit of CHF26 billion ($28 billion) for 2021, a windfall made exclusively from its growing foreign currency holdings. The central bank will likely distribute CHF6 billion to the confederation and cantons under the terms of a profit-sharing agreementExternal link that was made...

© Alyssand | Dreamstime.com The Swiss housing market continues to rise with no signs of weakening, reported RTS this week. According to the real estate platform immoscout24, the average price per m2 for a family home in Switzerland has risen from CHF 6,700 to CHF 7,200 over the last 12 months, a rise of 7%. Apartment prices have risen even further in some places. According to Roxane Montagner, who works for CiFi, a company that advises real estate professionals, the...

Repatriated passengers were expected to cover 80% of their flight bills. Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi The majority of stranded Swiss people repatriated during the first pandemic wave have paid back their share of flight bills. But the foreign ministry has been forced to write off CHF210,000 ($230,000) and is still haggling over another CHF360,000. In spring 2020, Switzerland arranged for over 7,000 people (4,000 Swiss and 3,000 non-Swiss) to be flown homeExternal...

Taxi or not, employer or not: Uber is a disputed concept in Switzerland. © Keystone / Christian Beutler The latest cantonal ruling on the US ride-hailing firm comes as a national framework to determine the status of gig economy workers in Switzerland is still lacking. The rulingExternal link by the Zurich social insurance court, published on Thursday, says that the “marked subordination” in the relation between Uber and its drivers means that it is one of dependence...

Privately owned e-bikes are used to replace cars more often than for sharing schemes. Keystone / Laurent Gillieron Shared e-scooters and e-bikes can have a negative effect on the climate, a Swiss study has found. This is because such services generally replace trips with normal bicycles, rather than cars. Many big cities, including Zurich, have schemes to rent and share e-bikes and e-scooters to relieve urban traffic and help reduce CO2 emissions. But until now it...

Consumer prices have risen sharply in Switzerland, increasing the attractiveness of tangible assets such as residential property © Keystone / Christian Beutler The value of residential property in Switzerland continued to rise strongly in 2021 in the wake of Covid-19. Property prices are likely to rise further this year, according to an analysis. Owners of freeholder apartments saw an increase in value of 7.3% over the course of the year. The increase for...

The cost of energy is a less important factor for the Swiss consumer price index than in other countries. Keystone/Alessandro Della Bella Consumer prices in Switzerland increased by 0.6% on average last year, according to the Federal Statistics Office. The rise is due in particular to higher prices for petroleum products and for housing rentals. In contrast, prices for international package holidays and medicines decreased, the officeExternal link said on Tuesday....

Planes belonging to SWISS and Helvetic Airways at Zurich Airport last month Keystone / Michael Buholzer The Covid pandemic has hit Zurich Airport, one of the biggest employers in the region, hard. But CEO Stephan Widrig says there are sufficient financial resources to get through the crisis, including the Omicron variant. “We don’t need any state aid even in a difficult 2022, apart from the short-time work compensation,” Widrig told newspaper Blick in an...

The Swiss watch industry has retained staff in 2021 Keystone / Martin Ruetschi The annual census of the Swiss watch industry labour force found that partial unemployment helped the industry weather the pandemic over the last year. The number of employees in the industry remained stable in 2021 while the share of high skilled staff increased. There are just under 60,000 people working in the watchmaking industry in Switzerland, which is less than a 1% decrease from...