Tag Archives: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

The seven cartel members had fixed the prices of new Volkswagen cars for years Keystone / Filip Singer A group of Volkswagen dealers in southern Switzerland has been fined CHF44 million ($46 million) by the Federal Competition Commission (Comco). The seven cartel members, including car importer AMAG, had fixed the prices of new Volkswagen cars for years. “The car dealers colluded on all sales activities in Ticino. They made deals on public sector submissions, agreed...

The threat of rampant inflation is forcing Swiss central bank to revise currency stance. © Keystone / Ti-press / Alessandro Crinari Switzerland’s central bank is buying lower volumes of foreign currencies to support the franc as it balances the needs of exporters with the rising cost of goods. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) shelled out CHF5.7 billion ($5.9 billion) in the foreign exchange markets in the first three months of the year. This amount is down from the...

Cars in Zurich. From the point of view of the environment and climate alone, transport caused an estimated CHF6 billion of damage in 2019 © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Negative costs on third parties caused by transport in Switzerland amounted to CHF14 billion ($14.7 billion) in 2019. The damage mainly affects the environment and climate, but also health. The Federal Office for Spatial Development said in a reportExternal link on Tuesday that traffic in Switzerland...

Lufthansa, the German parent company of SWISS international airlines, does not expect operations to return to normal until 2023. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Additional cancellations of SWISS flights are “unavoidable” because of staff shortages, a company spokesperson told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Sunday. Scheduled flights between August and October would be affected by the latest announcement, which was originally reported by the news portal blick.ch. It...

Switzerland, home to many big multinationals, has an average corporation tax rate of just under 15%, but some of its individual low-tax cantons such as Zug (in photo) have lower rates again. Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella Switzerland will implement from 2024 the minimum tax rate for large multinational firms under a global tax deal. The federal government will get a quarter and regional and local authorities three-quarters of revenue, it said on Thursday,...

The first tube of the Lötschberg base railway tunnel was built between 1999 and 2007. Keystone/ Martin Ruetschi The government has presented plans for an upgrade of the country’s railway network, including an additional Alpine tunnel in western Switzerland. About CHF720 million ($745 million) have been set aside to upgrade the Lötschberg base tunnel and other regional projects near Zürich and Geneva in the next decade. The Lötschberg tunnel, linking the Bernese...

Keystone/Georgios Kefalas Refugees with a special legal status will be able to exchange a limited amount of Ukranian banknotes for Swiss francs. The Swiss government on Wednesday announced that adults with a protection S status may exchange one amount of up to 10,000 hryvnia – the equivalent of CHF300 ($310.50) at selected branches of the two main Swiss banks, UBS and Credit Suisse. The regulation is due to come into force next Monday, according to the State...

‘You don’t have dozens and dozens of people employed on your Russia desks if you are not making money in Russia,’ says one senior private banker in Switzerland Keystone / Yuri Kochetkov January used to be a big month for Swiss bankers and their Russian clients. Many of the Moscow elite had made a tradition of coming to the Alps for the orthodox new year, skiing with their families, then catching up with their financial consiglieri. In St Moritz, one banker recalls...

SECO lowered this year’s GDP growth forecast from 2.8% (in March) to 2.6%. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally The Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has downgraded its economic growth forecast for 2022 to 2.6% due to the war in Ukraine and uncertainties in China. “The Swiss economy made a solid start to the year, but prospects for the international environment have waned,” SECO saidExternal link on Wednesday. “In particular, the global economy is at risk from the...

Zurich’s Kunsthaus, where the Bührle collection is a reminder of the moral hazards of neutrality. © Keystone / Walter Bieri Sanctions imposed on Russia have focused debate over the country’s long-cherished economic haven status. In the gleaming new Chipperfield extension of the Zurich Kunsthaus, all polished limestone and gold, is a room dedicated to expiating the moral debits of economic neutrality. The Bührle collection is one of the greatest privately-amassed...