Tag Archives: Business & Economy

Investec Switzerland. Swiss watch exports fell in August as demand weakened from Japan to the U.S., extending the industry’s slump to fourteen months. © Magryt | Dreamstime.com Shipments dropped 8.8 percent to 1.4 billion francs ($1.4 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said in a statement Tuesday. The slowdown has spread from Asia to Europe and the U.S. in recent months, leading Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the maker of Cartier and IWC Schaffhausen...

Investec Switzerland. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was aiming to solve a two-year-old dispute with Switzerland over immigration in a country-specific manner even in the wake of Brexit. © Mykhaylo Palinchak | Dreamstime.com The Swiss government has been at pains to implement restrictions on European Union newcomers decided upon in a 2014 referendum without annulling an economically important set of treaties with the 28-country bloc. Although...

Investec Switzerland. The Swiss Market Index is set to finish the week notably weaker along with global equity markets as fears around global monetary policy hit sentiment ahead of key meetings by the Bank of Japan and US Federal Reserve next week. The SMI did manage to outperform its European peers thanks to its heavy weighting towards more defensive pharmaceuticals and consumer staples sectors. © Microstock77 | Dreamstime.com Global equity markets had a tough start to...

Investec Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank maintained its ultra-loose negative interest-rate policy and pledged to intervene in currency markets if needed, saying the Brexit vote has clouded its view of the global economy. © Macgyverhh | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s central bank, which for years has been combating an overvalued currency, left its deposit rate at a record low of minus 0.75 percent, as forecast by all economists in a Bloomberg survey. It vowed to keep...

Investec Switzerland. The crisis in the global luxury-goods industry deepened after Hermes International SCA abandoned a long-standing forecast and Richemont predicted a profit plunge that Chairman Johann Rupert deemed unacceptable. Cartier in Hong Kong © Bankoo | Dreamstime.com Richemont, the maker of Cartier jewelry, said first-half operating profit will probably decline about 45 percent and warned it may have to deepen cost cuts. Kelly bag maker Hermes, traditionally...

Investec Switzerland. Anyone feeling let down that the European Central Bank didn’t do much last week might just want to skip the Swiss rate decision on Thursday to avoid more disappointment. © Swisshippo | Dreamstime.com While the Swiss National Bank may be infamous for some seismic policy changes in the last few years, those bombshells weren’t dropped at scheduled meetings. In fact, the last time the institution altered interest rates at a decision in its public calendar...

Investec Switzerland. The Swiss Market Index, along with other European markets, fluctuated this week as central bank decisions dominated the landscape. © Jorg Hackemann | Dreamstime.com Equity markets advanced at the beginning of the week as chances of the Federal Reserve raising US interest rates later this month declined after a surprisingly weak report on the US service-sector earlier this week. The report followed data last week that showed cooling job growth in...

Investec Switzerland. Basel City will leapfrog Zurich to become Switzerland’s second-most attractive location for businesses by 2020 as Swiss cantons cut corporate tax to bolster their appeal, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. © Petr Gnuskin | Dreamstime.com Basel, home of Roche Holding AG and Novartis AG, will move up two places in the ranking of 26 cantons over the next four years, given a plan to reduce its tax rate to 13 percent from 22.18 percent, Credit Suisse said...

Investec Switzerland. A UBS Group AG unit was found by a federal judge to have violated some contracts with mortgage-backed securities trusts that hold loans, putting it at risk of having to buy back more loans or pay damages in a $2 billion lawsuit. © Chhobi | Dreamstime.com U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel Tuesday ruled that UBS Real Estate Securities Inc. had breached warranties on 13 of 20 loans in the trusts that were introduced into evidence in a three-week trial in...

Investec Switzerland. Syngenta AG Chief Executive Officer Erik Fyrwald appointed a new head of finance as he works to complete a new strategic plan for the world’s largest agrochemical company, soon to be acquired by state-owned China National Chemical Corp. for $43 billion. © Jostein Hauge | Dreamstime.com Mark Patrick, who has been with the company for 23 years, will replace Chief Financial Officer John Ramsay, who has decided to step down at the end of September, the...