Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

According to a report by the newspaper Le Matin, some testing centres in Switzerland are charging for rapid antigen tests despite the federal government announcing it would cover the cost of these tests. © Seventyfourimages | Dreamstime.com With many holiday destinations still requiring negative Covid-19 tests as a condition of entry, those heading across borders for the summer holidays will need to get tested before heading to the airport or getting on the road or...

The River Aare at a weir just before flowing into Lake Biel on Friday. Lake Biel is threatening to reach a record level. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott Lakes and rivers in central Swiss cantons such as Bern and Lucerne have reached dangerous levels, and more rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday authorities in canton Bern said water levels on Lake Thun, Lake Biel and in the city of Bern would significantly exceed flood limits in the coming days....

Normally, those who borrow must pay out more money than they are lent in the form of interest and repayments. Currently, for the Swiss government it is the other way around. Lenders are paying the Swiss federal government to give it money. © Valeriya Luzina | Dreamstime.com On 14 July 2021, the Swiss Confederation announced the success of its latest issue of government bonds. The government recently issued bonds with a face value of CHF 934 million in return for CHF...

Picasso’s ‘Fillette au béret’ before being auctioned in Sweden in 2016 TT News Agency via AFP / Pontus Lundahl Fans of Pablo Picasso will soon be able to own a share in one of his paintings for less than $6,000 (CHF5,500) – although that won’t actually buy them the right to see the work, which will be stored under lock and key in Switzerland. Fillette au béret (Young girl with a beret) is being sold – or “tokenised” – via the blockchain in what Sygnum, the digital...

Vaccination has pushed the percentage of residents in Geneva with antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus up to 67%, according to a recent study by Geneva’s HUG hospital. © Kukotaekaterina | Dreamstime.com To some extent, Geneva has been at the forefront of Switzerland’s experience with Covid-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the canton has recorded Switzerland’s highest rate of infection, 54% above the Swiss average. Geneva has also been a leader on...

On 9 July 2021, the Swiss price comparison website Comparis revealed that it had been the victim of a ransomeware cyber attack on Wednesday, 7 July 2021. © Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.com According to Comparis, the attack occurred in the morning. Comparis took down several of its sites as a security measure. The attackers demanded money in exchange for decrypting data. Comparis said that based on the information available most of their databases containing customer...

Canton Bern expects water levels on Lake Thun, Lake Biel and in the city of Bern to significantly exceed flood limits in the coming days. On Lake Biel it’s possible the situation will be similar to the flood of the century in 2005. The River Simme in Wimmis, canton Bern, on Tuesday Keystone / Peter Schneider Bern’s state chancellery said on Wednesday it expected the flood level on Lake Biel to be exceeded by 25-65 centimetres. Lake Thun is expected to swell to 25-40...

On 13 July 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 483 new cases of Covid-19, up from a daily average of 274 over the preceding three days. © Sweet Hour Photography | Dreamstime.com The rise in cases follows a rising trend in the incidence of the more infectious Delta variant, which now makes up the majority of DNA sequenced samples in Switzerland. The latest reproduction rate, or R number, in Switzerland overall is 1.47, which means that...

Sub-Saharan Africa is a key region for Swiss foreign policy External link and digitisation will play a major role in that strategy. To this end, “Crypto Nation” Switzerland is throwing its weight behind a public-private partnership to find blockchain solutions to some of the challenges facing the continent. The success of the M-Pesa mobile phone payment scheme in Kenya, and now other countries, demonstrates how digital innovation can overcome infrastructure...

The number of Swiss start-ups launched has risen significantly in the first six months of 2021 while the number of companies filing for bankruptcy has decreased, studies have shown. In the first half of 2021 over 26,000 new companies were added to Switzerland’s commercial register. © Keystone / Christian Beutler In the first half of 2021 over 26,000 new companies were added to Switzerland’s commercial register, an increase of over 20% compared to the year before, a...