Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

On 25 June 2020, Switzerland’s contact tracing app, known as SwissCovid, became available for download.Created by a group of specialists at EPFL led by Marcel Salathé, a professor of digital epidemiology, the app allows chains of infection to be traced by informing people if they have been in contact with anyone infected. Countries, like South Korea, that have done a good job of this have been able to quickly isolate infected people and halt the spread of the virus....

The goal of sustainable finance is to divert more funds into environmentally and socially responsible projects. Keystone / Laurent Darbellay Extra rules will only be imposed on the sustainable finance sector if banks fail to properly police themselves, says the Swiss government. The hands-off regulatory approach to ethical investing has been welcomed by financial players, but criticised by NGOs. Unveiling a report on sustainable finance on Friday, Finance Minister...

The Swiss gold refining industry has once again come under scrutiny with a report that criticises the lack of control over imports of the precious metal. The Federal Audit Office says it is too easy for illegal imports to enter the country and that sanctions are inadequate. Most of the world’s gold passes through Switzerland to be transformed from raw material and refined. It’s a business that can range in value between CHF60 and CHF90 billion ($70-90 billion)...

The hospitality sector including restaurants were one of the biggest recipients of financial support during the crisis. Keystone / Pablo Gianinazzi An interim report on government pay-outs to businesses during the Covid-19 crisis has revealed that there is suspected abuse in less than 1% of cases. Тhe Federal Audit Office investigated some 94,000 coronavirus loans amounting to CHF11.4 billion ($12 billion). It found indications of abuse in about 400 cases, which...

A hotel in Zurich: there are a lot less jobs going in this sector right now. Keystone / Gaetan Bally New job offers have dropped by over a quarter in Switzerland due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with hotel, restaurant, and personal services sectors worst hit. Between April and June, job postings went down by 27%, the human resources firm Adecco Switzerland reported on Tuesday. Anna von Ow, a University of Zurich researcher who worked on the report, said the collapse in...

Roche’s HQ, overlooking the Rhine river in Basel. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas It was the start of one of the most unusual cross-cultural marriages when Roche bought a controlling stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical for $1.4bn back in 2002, promising arm’s length management. In the course of the 18 months of negotiations it took to reach a deal, Chugai, a Japanese pioneer in biotechnology, presented a single sheet of paper with a list of conditions it would not budge on,...

Zurich, June 24 2020 – UBS is investing in Rockefeller Asset Management’s Global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Equity fund, broadening the sustainable investment opportunities that it offers to clients. UBS, the world’s largest global wealth manager, has allocated directly to the fund through its 100% sustainable multi-asset portfolio, which surpassed USD 10 billion in size earlier this year. The fund is also available to UBS Global Wealth Management...

On Swiss trains passenger numbers have increased very gradually, and currently stand at around 55% of normal capacity in regional trains and 45% on intercity trains. © Keystone / Christian Beutler The collapse in the number of commuters and other passengers on Swiss trains and buses due to the pandemic is likely to leave a big hole in the finances of public transport companies. The Le Matin Dimanche and SonntagsZeitung newspapers reported on Sunday that Alliance...

Congolese demonstrations protest outside Glencore’s headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, in July 2018. © Keystone / Urs Flueeler The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has opened a criminal probe into Swiss-based commodity trader and miner Glencore over alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it mines copper and cobalt. Glencore said in a statement on June 19 that the Swiss criminal investigation was for the multinational’s...

© Jan Gajdosik | Dreamstime.com The Swiss authorities should have been more open about what they did and didn’t know about the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the early stages, according to Bertrand Kiefer, doctor, ethicist and editor of the Swiss Medical Review. Speaking to RTS, Kiefer said he believes the public should be treated like adults. A paternalistic approach to communication in such situations is ineffective, in his view. Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health...