Tag Archives: Business

Swiss-based multinationals such as commodities trader Glencore will receive subsidies and other incentives under plans Switzerland is drawing up to maintain its competitive tax rates, even as the country prepares to sign-up to the G7’s new plan for a global minimum tax on big businesses. A blooming economy: canton Zug © Keystone / Alexandra Wey Bern is consulting its cantonal governments – which set their own corporate tax rates – to examine how measures such as...

Business and human rights experts argue that Switzerland should seize the opportunity to require responsible sourcing of cobalt, an in-demand mineral whose risks to human rights are often overlooked. Cobalt must be included in Swiss Responsible business Legislation - Click to enlarge The government is holding consultations on a new law to hold companies accountable for the adverse impact of their operations on people after the Responsible Business Initiative failed...

A computer image of the planned underground logistics network. Cargo sous terrain Goods that are normally trucked on busy Swiss roads are a step closer to travelling underground on driverless vehicles after an ambitious cargo project got a first legislative go-ahead. Born in London, Simon is a multimedia journalist who has worked for www.swissinfo.ch since 2006. He speaks French, German and Spanish and covers the United Nations and other international...

David Solo’s role in supply-chain firm Greensill’s pursuit of Swiss riches was pivotal Keystone / Steffen Schmidt In late 2014, David Solo lent A$12.2 million (CHF8.5 million) to a little-known supply-chain finance group with eye-catching claims. Greensill Capital, which was trying to muscle in on a corner of finance dominated for decades by banks, vowed to make “finance fairer” and declared that it would be “democratising capital”. The cheque was helpful, but the...

Paper mountain: applications for short-time working compensation in canton Vaud, April 2020. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott The Swiss Federal Audit Office says it is worried by a surge in fraud cases linked to the short-time working system, a key pillar of the country’s economic response to Covid-19. The office’s director Michel Huissoud told public radio SRF on Monday he was “shocked by the number of complaints, mistakes, and abuses” recorded to date. As many as...

Jordan, shown at a news conference last year, warns of neglecting the risks of inflation. Keystone/Anthony Anex The Swiss National Bank (SNB) can expand its balance sheet further if needed, says chairman of the board Thomas Jordan. “A big balance sheet is per se no problem. We can expand the balance sheet further, if monetary policy so requires,” he told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper in an interview published on Saturday. The SNB’s holdings of foreign exchange...

A Covid credit programme has helped boost the reputation of Swiss banks, despite some of them being the target of climate protests. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Swiss people’s trust in their country’s banks is at its highest in 20 years, boosted by Covid credits and a commitment to sustainability, according to a new survey. People from almost all political camps have a positive perception, with 75% describing their attitude towards Swiss banks as positive or very...

Switzerland used to be a place where the rich came with their money to escape the world’s problems, not to confront them. Ethical investing: a bright future for the financial centres of Zurich and Geneva? © Keystone / Gaetan Bally These days, the private banks that dot the pristine streets of Zurich and Geneva are no exception when it comes to the wave of enthusiasm that has broken over the asset management world for better environmental, social and governance...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.15% to 1.0957 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 13(see more posts on Business, EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: It is as if the bond vigilantes were pushed too far. US inflation is accelerating more than expected, and it cannot all be attributed to the base effect, and the Federal Reserve, to many investors, is tone-deaf. With powerful fiscal stimulus, nominal growth above 10%, and the...

Anton “Toni” Piëch, co-founder of the Swiss electric car manufacturer Piëch Automotive, tells SWI swissinfo.ch why he chose Zurich and how he intends to make his mark in a highly competitive market with battery-powered cars for “purists who love technology”. Piëch, who says he wants to breathe new life into the Swiss car industry, is a scion of an Austrian-German family with a rich automobile history: his great-grandfather was Ferdinand Porsche and his father,...