Tag Archives: Business

The price of bitcoin has been in freefall in recent weeks, but that doesn’t seem to bother the most conservative of financial institutions – the banking arm of the Swiss post office. PostFinance is stepping up its drive to grant customers access to cryptocurrencies within the next couple of years. Postfinance already offers clients cryptocurrency exposure through its digital app YuhExternal link. This service draws heavily on a collaboration with Swissquote, which...

The price of household goods for Swiss consumers rose 3.4% in June compared to the same month last year, led by the surging cost of fuel and heating oil. “Inflation, which has de facto been absent for more than a decade, is back with a vengeance,” said economic forecast group BAK Economics. “However, this is no reason for inflation or stagflation [rising prices combined with slower economic output] panic.” BAK Economics is confident that a number of factors will...

Sommaruga (left) during the opening of a water power plant at Nant de Drance in the Swiss mountains last month. © Keystone/Laurent Gillieron Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga has warned of possible shortages of natural gas in Switzerland during the winter months. She said the government prepared made plans to prevent energy blackouts due to a drop in Russian gas imports in the context of war in Ukraine. But it was impossible to guarantee sufficient supplies for the...

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...

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...

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...

State Street denied the Credit Suisse takeover rumours last week. © Keystone / Walter Bieri Switzerland’s typically liberal mergers and acquisitions market might make an exception for such a national institution. There are few statues of heroes in downtown Zurich. But of those that exist, by far the grandest is that of Credit Suisse’s founder, Alfred Escher. It is hard to imagine a foreign acquirer buying such a national institution, though Credit Suisse’s shares...

A Russian soldier guards an area of the Mariupol Sea Port in eastern Ukraine. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, commodity prices have soared and trade flows have been redrawn. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Geneva-based Trafigura reported record half-year profits as volatility and disruption in commodity markets, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, supercharged earnings for the world’s biggest traders. The group’s net...

Booking.com says it levies a 12% fee on reservations made over its online platform for a variety of services including promotion. © Keystone/Gaetan Bally Parliament has approved restrictions on online reservation platforms to protect the Swiss hotel sector. Senators on Wednesday came out in favour of a legal reform to fight unfair competition. In line with the House of Representatives, the Senate approved proposals to allow hotel websites to undercut prices and other...