Tag Archives: Business

Marcel Ospel (1950-2020). (Keystone/eddy Risch) Ospel, who was ousted from his job as chairman of UBS in 2008 after fallout from the US subprime mortgage crisis, passed away on Sunday due to cancer. Born in Basel in 1950, Ospel began his career in 1977 with the Swiss Bank Corporation, an investment bank, before later engineering its merger with UBS in 1998. Having become chairman in 2001, the beginning of his tenure was marked by the controversial grounding of the...

(© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) The number of reports of suspected money laundering jumped by about 25% in Switzerland last year. According to the Federal Money Laundering Reporting Officeexternal link, 7,705 reports were filed in 2019, compared to 6,126 the previous year. The office was able to process 4,074 of these reports last year, and forwarded about half (2,024) to the law enforcement agencies, as it stated in its annual reportexternal link published on Thursday....

A shortage of frozen butter in Switzerland has the industry wanting to import 1,000 tons. Dairy farmers disagree. On Thursday an umbrella groupexternal link for the dairy sector announced that it had applied to the federal authorities for permission to import 1,000 tons of butter. There are currently 1,500 tons of frozen butter reserves in Switzerland, but the nation would need 4,000-5,000 tons to get through the demand for the rest of the year, says the group....

Many people in Switzerland will be counting their change more carefully. (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) In a revised forecast in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, federal authorities predict GDP will contract by 6.7% in 2020 and recover slowly in 2021. On Thursday, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) announced that it had adjusted 2020 economic forecasts to take into account sporting events affected by the pandemic. The original revised forecast...

A drone is used to determine the quality of the grass, pictured at the Swiss Future Farm, a demonstration farm for smart-farming technologies. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Remote sensing, big data, artificial intelligence and robotics are being integrated into everyday farm management. Based on information relayed by a Swiss start-up, the owner of a sugar mill in India tells local cane farmers it’s almost time to harvest their crop. The information provided to the...

Switzerland is home to some of the world’s most important gold refineries. The Swiss authorities say they regularly monitor the origin and transactions of this metal to ensure that they are legal and transparent. (Keystone / Martin Ruetschi) Venezuela is illegally mining and trading in gold, and Switzerland could be one of its clients, according to Swiss media reports. swissinfo.ch spoke to law enforcement, customs and financial authorities to find out whether they...

Closed shops, cancelled flights, shut construction sites: the pandemic is causing the Swiss economy to lose an estimated CHF4-5 billion a week (Keystone) The current pandemic will plunge the world economy into recession, at least in the first part of the year. What tools does Switzerland have to minimise the economic and social damage of this crisis? And what factors could jeopardise the prospects for an economic recovery? The CHF10 billion ($10.3 billion) in...

Restoring shuttered companies back to health may take more than state handouts. (Keystone / Laurent Gillieron) The CHF60 billion Swiss state bailout of companies is well underway. But there is a feeling that government funds that hand out loans and pay workers’ wages will not be enough. How do companies maintain contact with customers and develop their brands during a lockdown? The obvious solution is to embrace digital. The last few weeks has seen a number of...

The government is expected to present its Covid-19 exit plans on Thursday. The picture shows Swiss President Sommaruga (centre) with Interior Minister Berset (right) and Economics Minister Parmelin (left) talking to the government spokesman. (Keystone/Peter Klaunzer) Political parties, trade unions and other interest groups have published their proposals for the government to relax restrictions introduced to stem the Covid-19 pandemic. The calls come a day ahead of...

The 2020 edition of the fair was cancelled due to Covid-19. (Keystone / Georgios Kefalas) Rolex, Patek Philippe and Chanel will not exhibit at the Baselworld watch and jewellery trade show in 2021. The announcement marks another blow to the event, which has already seen high-profile exits, including by the Swatch Group. The luxury timepiece companies, along with Chopard and Tudor said on Tuesday they would launch a new trade show in Geneva with the Fondation de la...