Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

Many employees were put on short time work during the lockdown as companies were hit by the pandemic. Keystone / Magali Girardin Government credits and employment support measures have helped stave off a wave of bankruptcies, but they could rise over the longer term, says a survey. Between January and August 2020, which includes the lockdown period, 2,800 firms in Switzerland declared bankruptcy. This is actually 621 fewer than in the same period last year, says the...

© Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com On 7 September 2020, Switzerland added to its list of quarantine countries. People entering Switzerland from 55 nations must now quarantine for 10 days. On 7 September 2020, 10 nations were added to the list. These include Croatia, French Polynesia, Guyana, Lebanon, Libya, Paraguay, San Marino, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates. From 7 September 2020, anyone who has spent time in these countries over the 14 days prior...

Switzerland and Britain are talking of closer cooperation as two major economies that are not part of the EU. © Keystone / Peter Schneider Switzerland and Britain are thrashing out a post-Brexit financial services treaty that is being billed as a global standard for common sense. It also takes aim at perceived EU inflexibility that has seen the Swiss stock market frozen out of European markets. The proposed treaty to “deepen cooperation” on a whole range of financial...

Bricks and mortar is being replaced by digital code in the banking sector. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Swiss lender Credit Suisse is set to launch an overhaul of its digital banking offering, as it uses the coronavirus crisis as a springboard to accelerate the push from bricks-and-mortar branches to online services. Last month the bank confirmed plans to close a quarter of its 146 domestic branches by the end of the year. This would lead to SFr100m ($108m) of...

Valcambi says it is cooperating with NGOs in Peru (picture shows an area in the Madre de Dios province) to improve the working conditions of artisanal miners. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. The Swiss-based Valcambi refinery has rejected accusations about gold dealings with a controversial company in the United Arab Emirates. Chief executive Michael Mesaric said the claims by the non-governmental Swissaid organisation were unfounded. In a...

Zurich, 09 September 2020 – Art Basel and UBS today published a 2020 mid-year survey ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on the Gallery Sector’ written by renowned cultural economist Dr. Clare McAndrew, Founder of Arts Economics. The survey findings present an analysis of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted 795 galleries operating in the Modern and contemporary gallery sector, representing 60 different markets across all levels of turnover, throughout the first six months of...

Mexico has recorded 634,023 coronavirus infections and 67,558 confirmed deaths, the world’s fourth highest death toll. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. People arriving in Switzerland from Belgium, Mexico and Luxembourg will no longer have to go into quarantine for ten days. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) on Monday updated its list of countries deemed to have a high risk of coronavirus infection and removed Belgium, Mexico,...

Human rights activists have called on Apple to cut ties with suppliers alleged to be using the forced labour of thousands of ethnic Uighurs in Chinese factories. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Campaigners are urging the Swiss government to renegotiate a six-year-old free trade agreement with China to try to improve human rights and labour conditions for its Uighur Muslim minority. On Monday, the Society for Threatened Peoples, the Swiss...

Simonetta Sommaruga opening the Ceneri Base Tunnel on Friday Keystone The Ceneri Base Tunnel has been officially opened, with the first freight train passing through the tunnel in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino shortly after 11:30am. Passengers will have to wait for the new national rail timetable in December. “As a child I spent almost all of my holidays in Ticino […] the journey over the mountain, the Monte Ceneri, seemed to take an age,” Simonetta Sommaruga,...

© Tatiana Kozachenko | Dreamstime.com In Switzerland, over the three months following 31 May 2020, there have been 11,306 recorded cases of Covid-19 and 91 deaths, a case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.8%. However, up to this date there were 30,862 cases and 1,920 deaths, a CFR of 6.2%. Why has Switzerland’s CFR fallen so steeply? A number of factors could explain the decline. Testing The first is testing. Recorded case numbers before 1 June 2020 are not comparable to...