Tag Archives: Business

Blockchain is set to challenge the dominance of national stock exchanges. Keystone / Walter Bieri Digital assets bank Sygnum says it will open up new sources of funding for small companies by creating and trading shares on the blockchain. Its new trading facility will also target venture capital, real estate and the arts and collectibles market. The goal is to translate traditional assets into blockchain-compatible digital ‘tokens’ that can speed up trading and make...

Clariant has its headquarters in the Swiss city of Basel but operates in more than 50 countries. Keystone/Gaetan Bally Swiss speciality chemicals firm Clariant has announced further job cuts amid a series of divestments. The programme foresees a reduction of approximately 1,000 positions in service and regional structures, it said on Wednesday. About one-third of the reductions will be included in the divestment transfers, adding that it would set aside provisions of...

Few companies know where all of their products originate let alone the conditions for people producing or extracting them. Keystone / Nyein Chan Naing Big multinationals in Switzerland have been nearly unanimous in their rejection of an initiative to make companies more accountable for their actions abroad. What are they afraid of? In a letter released a couple weeks ago, several board members of major Swiss multinationals urged the Swiss to vote against the...

A proposal to make Swiss-based multinationals accountable for their business practices abroad is tabled for a nationwide vote on November 29. An initiative aimed at restricting investments in the arms industry is the second issue on the ballot sheet. The political left is trying to push through amendments to the Swiss constitution to impose sustainable standards on Swiss companies and institutions, which has triggered opposition from the political right and the...

This kind of vehicle will be used to transport goods under Central Switzerland (computer-generated illustration). Keystone Building a 500-km tunnel network to transport goods under Central Switzerland is the ambitious aim of the “Cargo Sous Terrain” project. The vision has moved closer to reality since the Swiss government brought forward enabling legislation last month. In the not-too-distant future, part of the goods now transported by road or rail between Geneva...

Switzerland is home to the headquarters of several world leaders in raw materials, such as Glencore, based in the canton of Zug. Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella Home to big players in the raw materials, food and chemicals industries, Switzerland boasts one of the world’s highest concentrations of multinational headquarters. Multinationals play an important role in the Swiss economy, providing both jobs and tax revenues. In 2018, the Federal Statistical Office found...

Swiss-US trade has been booming in recent years. Would it be better for the Alpine country to stick with the current set-up or trust in a potentially more conciliatory new American president?   Swiss business with the US has never been better. Exports from Switzerland rose by a fifth between 2017 and the end of last year. Half of this trade was from the pharmaceutical and chemical sector. Precision tools, machinery and electrical manufacturing also saw trade with...

The biotech company and the pharmaceutical giant want to develop and market a drug with a unique approach for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19. Keystone/Alexandra Wey Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis says it has signed a deal with biotech firm Molecular Partners to develop, manufacture and commercialise an anti-Covid-19 treatment drug. The Basel-based company said the option and licence agreement was aimed at boosting a programme consisting of two...

Just over half of respondents to a survey said a repair label would play a decisive role in the purchase of an electronic product. © Keystone / Adrian Reusser No less than 98% of people polled by a consumer protection alliance are in favour of a labelling system that evaluates the repairability of electronic and household appliances. Most of them were also prepared to pay more for a product that offered specific repair guarantees. A vast majority of survey...

The rapid testing will be done by health workers from nose or mouth swabs. Keystone / Denis Balibouse Swiss drug firm Roche says it is to launch a new Covid-19 antigen test before the end of the year, allowing faster, higher-volume testing. One of the most potent use cases could be at airports to ease the severe restrictions on air transport. “These fully automated systems can provide test results in 18 minutes for a single test, with a throughput of up to 300 tests...