Tag Archives: Business & Economy

Investec Switzerland. According to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi “uncertainty prevails everywhere” but apparently investors don’t mind. Market participants shrugged off last weekends “no” to constitutional reform in Italy and the subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to push European indices to 12 month highs this week. © Patrick Poendl | Dreamstime.com The Swiss Market Index followed European markets higher. The German DAX and France’s CAC...

Switzerland’s Federal Council is looking at a proposal to make pension payments compulsory for self-employed workers in the same way that they are for salaried workers. © Katatonia82 | Dreamstime.com In Switzerland there are three elements to pensions. A universal state pension, funded from social security payments, a second element, known as a second pillar, which is a pot built up from sums deducted from salary, and a third pillar, which is an optional tax deductible amount...

Investec Switzerland. Switzerland’s plan to solve an immigration dilemma with the European Union could avoid being held up by another referendum if it gets strong support in parliament next week, according to Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann. A clear result in a final vote on Dec. 16 with the Swiss People’s Party, or SVP, in the minority could make it “delicate” for the group to push for another plebiscite, he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Guy...

Investec Switzerland. Credit Suisse Group AG is preparing a new cost-savings program that puts as many as 1,300 jobs in Switzerland on the line, according to Schweiz am Sonntag. © Pincasso | Dreamstime.com The plan will be announced Wednesday, when the lender holds its investor day in London, the newspaper said, without saying where it got the information. Credit Suisse’s Swiss unit may slash an additional 1,000 to 1,300 positions, or about eight to 10 percent of the unit’s...

The contractural requirement for Swisscom to provide every commune with a telephone box comes to an end at the end of next year. Late last week, the Federal Council adopted a new plan that will come into force in 2018. Internet subscriptions without a fixed phone contract should also be part of the new plan. © Phillip Judd The current deal with Swisscom, which requires the company to provide universal coverage for ten years, comes to an end on 31 December 2017. One casualty of the switch to a...

Investec Switzerland. Investors appear to be staying on the sidelines this week ahead of the weekend’s Italian referendum. Swiss stocks are set to finish the week lower, underperforming global equities as food giant Nestle and pharmaceutical heavyweights Roche and Novartis drag the index down. © Lupoalb68 | Dreamstime.com It’s been a volatile trading week across financial markets. Oil prices jumped almost 9% on Wednesday after OPEC members finally agreed a deal to cut...

After seven years on top, Swisscom has been beaten by Sunrise. The German telecommunications expert and magazine publisher, connect.de and its partner P3, travelled roughly 7,000 km by car around Switzerland testing Swiss mobile networks. Tests were also made while walking and on trains. The results were published on Tuesday. © Hai Huy Ton That | Dreamstime.com Out of a possible 1,000 points, Sunrise was awarded 951, Swisscom 933 and Salt, formerly Orange, 878. Connect.de described...

Switzerland retains its number one spot in IMD‘s most recent 2016 World Talent Report. Unlike the other 60 nations in the study, which have seen their performance gyrate, a plot of Switzerland’s rank over the last ten years is a perfectly straight line. First ten years in a row. © Damedeeso | Dreamstime.com The study looks at three things: investment in people, ability to attract skilled foreigners, and readiness, a measure of the availability of skills in the talent pool. Investing in...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss banks focused on property lending are taking more risks to compensate for the impact of record-low interest rates, increasing the threat of a real-estate bubble, Swiss National Bank Vice President Fritz Zurbruegg said. © Vladek | Dreamstime.c “Exceptionally low interest rates are putting pressure on interest rate margins and this is weighing on the profitability of Swiss banks,” Zurbruegg said in a speech in Bern on Thursday. That “creates an...

Investec Switzerland. Richemont’s plan to slash 210 watchmaking jobs in Switzerland is sending shockwaves from Geneva to some of the country’s remote mountain villages, the cradle of high-end watch manufacturing. © Wing Ho Tsang | Dreamstime.com In Le Sentier, a town perched in the middle of the Jura mountain range, straddling the border between France and Switzerland, some 400 people protested Thursday against plans to cut the workforce of Vacheron Constantin and Piaget....