Tag Archives: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

UBS took over former rival Credit Suisse after the collapse of the latter in March 2023. Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott UBS Group AG was asked by a powerful US lawmaker about whether the bank it acquired, Credit Suisse Group AG, failed to report an American accused of evading taxes on $350 million (CHF307 million) in income. Senator Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, asked in a letter whether Credit Suisse told US tax authorities about...

Switzerland currently provides information on financial accounts to the US but does not receive any data from across the Atlantic. Keystone / Martin Ruetschi The two countries plan to exchange financial data from 2027 to help both sides track down tax evaders. A corresponding new agreement was signed in Bern on Thursday, Switzerland’s finance ministry announced, although Swiss law will have to be amended before the change can be implemented. Switzerland currently...

Keystone / Michael Buholzer Migros is slimming down further. A buyer has been found for Melectronics, the Group announced on Tuesday. The retailer also intends to divest further subsidiaries. This will result in additional redundancies. This content was published on June 18, 2024 – 15:57 As is well known, the retail group Migros wants to free itself from its complicated structures and become leaner. Migros has now found a buyer for Melectronics: It is...

Low-tax and wealthy Zug is invariably a net contributor to the Swiss financial equalistion system. Keystone / Urs Flueeler Redistribution payments between regions will rise by 4.8% to CHF6.2 billion ($6.91 billion) in 2025, the Federal Finance Administration (FFA) said on Tuesday. According to provisional calculations, annual compensation payments to cantons with low resource potential – the main component of the equalisation scheme – will climb by CHF331 million...

The idea is to make cities in Ticino, such as Lugano, more attractive for top managers Keystone – Ats / Ti-Press High incomes in the Swiss canton of Ticino will in future benefit from tax relief. A corresponding amendment to the law was approved by voters on Sunday. Compensatory measures for planned pension cuts for cantonal employees were also approved. With a voter turnout of 49.32%, 60,581 Ticino residents voted in favour of the new tax law and 45,908 against,...

SNB Vice President Martin Schlegel. Keystone / Michael Buholzer The Swiss National Bank (SNB) returned to a quarterly profit because of the weakness of the Swiss franc, potentially helping officials to rebuild the central bank’s depleted capital base. The Zurich-based institution notched up a gain of CHF58.8 billion ($64 billion) in the first quarter, according to a statement on Thursday. That’s the strongest start to the year on record. The largest part of its...

Redundancies at Switzerland's largest bank will test the capacity of the financial sector to absorb jobs. Keystone A year ago Credit Suisse staff were stunned by the sudden demise of their bank. Many are now fighting for their careers with 3,000 Swiss posts set to be axed by their new employer UBS, starting this year....

UBS already has to build up additional equity capital because it has become much larger as a result of the Credit Suisse takeover, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / MARTIAL TREZZINI In order to better protect taxpayers from the corporate failure of a systemically important bank in future, the Swiss government...

Executives tried to explain themselves at Credit Suisse’s last AGM. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / MICHAEL BUHOLZER In March 2023, Credit Suisse collapsed. An uncontrolled bankruptcy could only be prevented by big government aid and an emergency merger with competitor UBS. Switzerland is now waiting for a parliamentary inquiry report to reveal who was at fault as the bank disintegrated. For some, Credit Suisse’s management and ex-chairman Axel Lehmann are solely to blame for...

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan saw his pay nearly double over the last year. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / GEORGIOS KEFALAS Swiss CEOs are some of the best paid in Europe but compared to peers in the United States, their salaries look modest. Some in the Swiss pharmaceutical industry see this as a problem.   Jessica covers the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to big global companies and their impact in Switzerland and abroad. She’s always looking for a Swiss...