Tag Archives: Business

The Winkelvoss twins are among the biggest cryptocurrency investors in the world. Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss, who made a fortune out of bitcoin, are to deliver a keynote speech at next year’s Crypto Finance Conference in St Moritz. The annual gathering of cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and investors has become a fixture event, running just before the World Economic Forum’s flagship Davos summit. The twin brothers famously fell out with Mark Zuckerberg, suing the...

Environmental activists have previously called attention to the excessive use of single-use plastics by large corporations such as Nestlé, which in April 2019 received a giant monster made of plastic waste from Greenpeace at its Vevey headquarters. The Swiss food giant has been placed second behind Coca-Cola in an audit of plastic waste by a coalition of environmental organisations. The results of the analysis, released on Wednesday by the Break Free From...

Affected JTI staff are unhappy with the proposed resettlement package, and management’s lack of transparency about job cuts and future plans. Almost 100 Japan Tobacco International (JTI) staff protested outside their Geneva headquarters on Tuesday against job cuts. Around a quarter of the Geneva workforce are affected by major restructuring plans. Last month the multinational firm behind cigarette brands like Winston, Camel and Benson & Hedges...

An estimated 2,200 individuals in Switzerland are in the ultra-high net worth group, with wealth of over $50 million (Keystone) The Swiss have pulled away from the pack when it comes to assets per adult, remaining on average the wealthiest citizens in the world. In concrete terms, by mid-2019 assets per adult in Switzerland stood at $564,650 (CHF555,000), an increase of $17,790 over the previous year, according to the tenth Credit Suisse Global Wealth Reportexternal...

Demand has been highest for train trips to France, and the TGV Lyria high-speed train is planning to offer 30% more seats on its routes. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Travellers in Switzerland are increasingly taking to the rails for trips abroad, with the Swiss Federal Railways reporting a 10% increase in demand for international journeys and 25% more demand for trips by night train. According to a report in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, demand for night train...

The Swiss National Bank presented its new CHF100 banknotes in September. (Keystone / Peter Klaunzer) Swiss banknotes are far more resistant to counterfeiters than in previous years, dramatically reducing the number of fake copies, say federal police. By contrast, far more counterfeit coins were seized last year, probably as a result of better detection methods. In 2018, a record low of 1,200 fake banknotes were discovered by police. Their combined face value amounted...

In February, the Swiss government awarded mobile radio frequencies for 5G to three telecom operators: Salt, Sunrise and Swisscom. As more governments mull the risks of working with foreign vendors of 5G networks, eyes are on Switzerland as one of the technology’s early adopters. Will the Swiss take a heavier hand in restricting foreign providers like Huawei in the 5G supply chain or let the market decide? In a grim but not-so-far-fetched scenarioexternal link, a...

Central bank negative interest rates are costing Swiss commercial banks CHF2 billion a year. (© Keystone / Melanie Duchene) Credit Suisse has joined the likes of UBS and Post Finance in charging rich clients to park their wealth in its vaults. It will pass on the cost of the central bank’s negative interest rates to both private individuals and corporate accounts above certain thresholds. From November 15, corporate clients will be charged -0.85% interest on cash...

Gunvor was found to have taken no organisational measures to prevent corruption in its business activities (Keystone) The Geneva-based trading company Gunvor has been ordered to pay almost CHF94 million ($94.6 million), including a fine of CHF4 million over bribery in Africa. The commodities trader failed to prevent its employees and agents from bribing public officials between 2008 and 2011 in order to gain access to the petroleum markets in the Republic of Congo...

Can Libra survive without partners such as Mastercard and Visa? (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This Material May Not Be Published, Broadcast, Rewritten Or Redistribu) Facebook’s cryptocurrency payments project, Libra, has suffered a major blow with the withdrawal of seven key partners. But the Geneva-based Libra Association continues to battle on against a regulatory onslaught by adopting a charter and forming an executive team. Set in...