Tag Archives: Business

Black Friday sales started emerging in Switzerland around five years ago. (© Keystone / Walter Bieri) The busiest shopping day of the year in the United States has become big business in Switzerland. But, some worry about the risks of consumers falling into debt and the pressure the Black Friday “holiday” puts on employees and the postal service. It wasn’t until five years ago that Black Friday, which falls on the Friday after American Thanksgiving (this year...

Older people want to work but find opportunities limited. (Christof Schuerpf) Switzerland must do more to find employment options for older citizens and increase work productivity says the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). If not, prosperity for all will decline as the population ages. The median age of the Swiss population has risen to 43 compared to 32 in 1970. By 2060 this will rise further to 48-years-old going by current fertility rates. Increasing...

An iceberg melts in Kulusuk, Greenland near the arctic circle. (file photo) (Keystone / John Mcconnico) The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is doing enough to mitigate climate damage with its investment policy, senior directors have stated. Switzerland’s central bank does not have the mandate to impose environmental conditions on the commercial banking sector. The remarks follow a recent speechexternal link by the new head of the International Monetary Fund...

An initiative, approved by voters 25 years ago, wants heavy-goods vehicles to be in put on rail in a bid to reduce transalpine traffic (Archive picture). (Keystone/Martin Ruetschi) The Swiss government has decided to earmark CHF180 million ($182 million) as part of a package to promote the transfer of heavy-goods transport from road to rail. In its bill to parliament, the government foresees an extension of payments to transport companies using freight trains until...

The decision applies to bills starting in the sixth series issued in 1976, which includes the 100-franc note with a portrait of architect Francesco Borromini. Banknotes as old as 1976 can soon be traded in at the national bank following a decision by the federal government to eliminate the 20-year time limit. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues a new series of banknotes every 15 to 20 years and removes the old notes from circulation. Six months later, the old notes...

Sunrise had planned to acquire UPC for CHF6.3 billion. (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) Following shareholder pushback, Swiss telecom operator Sunrise has cancelled the purchase contract for the cable network operator UPC, officially burying the controversial deal. This is another failed attempt to challenge industry leader Swisscom. “Yesterday evening we cancelled the purchase agreement,” Sunrise CEO Olaf Swantee said on Wednesday. “The deal proposed by management...

SEBA is part of a new wave of financial institutions that plan to offer a different style of banking service. (SEBA) Crypto bank SEBA is confident of attracting a “three-digit” number of Swiss clients by the end of the year before setting its sights on global expansion and raising more than CHF100 million ($101 million) in extra funding from the public. The Swiss financial regulator awarded SEBA a banking license in August, along with another bank specialising in...

Born in Ravensburg, Germany, Klaus Schwab is the Founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) (Keystone / Laurent Gillieron) World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab will not be receiving honorary Swiss citizenship, despite the idea having being mooted earlier this year. Such an honorary conferral of the passport has no basis in Swiss law, the Federal Justice Office announced on Tuesday, after it was contacted by the daily Südostschweiz...

Spending cryptocurrencies in shops is proving a difficult nut to crack. (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) Prominent European payment infrastructure provider Worldline has teamed up with financial services firm Bitcoin Suisse to allow cryptocurrency enthusiasts to spend their bitcoin in Swiss shops. Worldline last year took over SIX Payment Services, the former arm of the Swiss stock exchange group that provides payment card terminals in 85,000 Swiss retail outlets....

A CHF800 million ($805 million) new pumping station is under construction north of Geneva as part of the Genilac project. Swiss lakes offer huge potential as renewable energy sources that can be used to cool and heat buildings. Geneva is expanding a pioneering thermal exchange project to help meet its climate goals, while other regions are taking the plunge. After transport, the second and third biggest sources of national greenhouse gas emissions are Swiss industry...