Tag Archives: Business

Is the room half full or half empty for blockchain property enterprises? (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) Our regular analysis of developments in the world of fintech and Crypto Nation. Property has for some time been hailed as prime real estate for blockchain disruption. The incorruptible ledger will replace mountains of paperwork while interested parties will have a sovereign claim to validate transactions in property sales. We are also told that smart contracts...

(Keystone/ Valentin Flauraud) Blockchain and cryptocurrencies seem to be all over the news, but is this a flash-in-the-pan gimmick or a real digital service that can impact on the lives of ordinary people? People have been asking us what it all means, so we’d like to give you the opportunity to send in your own questions. What is blockchain’s value proposition? Why should I cash in my “real” money for cryptocurrencies? Who or what is behind blockchain? We’ll do our...

Swiss firms fear that savers and pensioners will suffer from negative interest rates. (Keystone / Gaetan Bally) A survey of Swiss companies commissioned by UBS bank concludes that negative interest rates are harming the wider economy. Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, asked 2,500 companies about the impact of negative interest rates. “Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that the cost…for the economy outweighed their benefits overall,” UBS said in a press...

Bombardier says its trains offer shorter journey times and more passenger comfort, but they have been beset by problems. Bombardier says it expects to deliver all 62 double-decker express trains ordered by Swiss Federal Railways by summer 2021. Deliveries should have been made as early as 2013 but have been fraught with technical problems. The trains were ordered in 2010 for a total of CHF 1.9 billion ($1.9 billion), making it the largest contract in the history of...

Solar energy is the main source of renewable energy in Switzerland, after hydroelectric power. But its potential is far from being exploited, according to industry experts. In 1982 Switzerland became the first country in Europe to connect a photovoltaic plant to the electricity network. Ten years later it inaugurated what at the time was the continent’s largest solar power station. And in 2015, the world’s largest off-grid solar panel system on the roof of a sports...

A 2013 fire in Korindo’s palm oil concession in Papua. Nestlé suspended Korindo last year but Greenpeace claims it still sources from Korindo’s subsidiary PT Mitra Indo Cemerlang. (Ardiles Rante/Greenpeace) The environmental group Greenpeace claims that the Swiss food giant procured palm oil from suppliers linked to around 9,700 fire hotspots in Indonesia this year. A Greenpeace reportexternal link released on Monday examines the supply chain of four major food...

In Switzerland Uber grew 30% in the last year, reaching 400,000 active users. It’s not the first time Uber has faced some bumps on the road in canton Geneva. But the latest move requiring the ride-hailing company to treat drivers as employees could spell big changes for the company. Will Uber call it quits or set a precedent for other cities? The thousands of diplomats, business travellers and tourists arriving at Geneva airport every month may soon need to return to...

Farinet banknotes were introduced in Valais in western Switzerland in spring 2017 to stimulate the local economy. The Farinet – a local currency introduced in canton Valais in 2017 – is to be withdrawn from circulation at the end of 2019 after failing to stimulate the regional economy as hoped. Farinet banknotes were introduced in Valais in western Switzerland in spring 2017. But on Tuesday the association external linkbehind the currency announced it planned to...

One OECD recommendation is that Switzerland raises the retirement age. Trade tensions coupled with a slowdown in Europe are likely to take a toll on the Swiss economy over the next two years, the OECD forecasts. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revised its growth forecasts downwards for Switzerland. It also recommended Switzerland raise its retirement age. Swiss GDP is expected to grow by 0.8% this year and by 1.4% in 2020,...

Sign of the times: a Swisscom box in Lausanne in 2017. It had been converted into a book exchange The last telephone box in French-speaking Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva, was dismantled on Thursday. Swisscom will remove the one in the country – in Baden, northern Switzerland – on November 28. An era in the history of Swiss telecommunications is thus coming to an end, an era that witnessed millions of declarations of love, tears and banal conversations in...