Kamm was director of the MCH Group which organises the world’s largest watch fair in Basel since 2003. (Keystone) The head of the world’s largest watch and jewellery trade show, the Swiss-based Baselworld, has handed in his resignation amid a row over the departure of several exhibitors. The MCH Group announced that CEO Peter Kamm would resign from his position “in view of the fundamental transformation phase in...
Read More »Swiss court blocks French request for UBS banking data
“It’s not concrete enough to suspect all French with a UBS account” when looking for tax evaders. Pictured here: UBS on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich (Keystone) Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court has ordered the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) not to provide France with details about 40,000 UBS bank clients with French addresses. In May 2016, the French tax authorities requested administrative assistance from the...
Read More »IT made compulsory for upper secondary pupils
This upper secondary school in Glarus already has IT lessons Computer science has become obligatory at Swiss upper secondary schools, as the country seeks to plug its information technology (IT) skills gap. These schools (Gymnasium/lyceé/liceo), whose pupils typically go on to university, have until the school year 2022/3 to introduce the compulsory lessons, under a regulation change that came into force on August 1....
Read More »Central bank back in the black after shaky 2018 start
Swiss National Bank Chairman, Thomas Jordan, pictured in April 2018. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has reported strong profits for the first half of the year, largely thanks to a weakening franc and gains in the foreign currency market. The results, published in an SNB press releaseexternal link on Tuesday, show overall profits of CHF5.11 billion ($5.17 billion) for the first six months of 2018, compared with CHF1.22...
Read More »Swatch Group withdraws from Baselworld
The famed Swiss watch and jewellery manufacturer Swatch Group has participated in Baselworld for years with nearly all of its 18 brands. (Keystone) With the departure of its largest exhibitor from 2019, it’s yet another setback for the world’s largest watch and jewellery trade show, which has seen participation dwindle in recent years. Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday that “today,...
Read More »UBS Boss Bemoans Geopolitical Jitters
UBS may have seen quarterly profits rise year-on-year, but chief executive Sergio Ermotti says the threat of trade wars and political unrest has dampened investor enthusiasm and continues to hold back financial markets. - Click to enlarge UBS may have seen quarterly profits rise year-on-year, but chief executive Sergio Ermotti says the threat of trade wars and political unrest has dampened investor enthusiasm and...
Read More »Zurich Airport to Limit Night-Time Flight Traffic
Federal aviation authorities have decided to limit the number of time slots for planes at Switzerland’s main airport in Zurich. The Federal Office of Civil Aviationexternal link said it has ordered a freeze on landings after 9pm and for take-offs after 10:20pm to reduce the noise for residents living near the airport. - Click to enlarge Federal aviation authorities have decided to limit the number of time slots for...
Read More »Swiss slap nearly 20,000 fines over labour violations
Labour rules are a major sticking point in trade talks between Switzerland and the European Union. Swiss authorities sanction on average ten companies per day for violating wage protection rules, according to official figures. That corresponds to 19,200 fines in the span of five years. NZZ am Sonntag external linkpublished these figures on Sunday on the basis of a list compiled by the State Secretariat for Economic...
Read More »Rothschild bank sanctioned for role in 1MDB scandal
The 1MDB scandal has seen billions disappear from the sovereign wealth fund. The Swiss financial regulator has concluded its investigations into the Malaysian 1MDB scandal by finding Rothschild Bank AG and one of its subsidiaries in serious breach of anti-money laundering regulations. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) said on Friday that it has appointed an auditor to make sure the bank and its...
Read More »Swiss bank settles US tax evasion probe
A Swiss-US agreement allows wrongdoers to settle financially to avoid criminal prosecution in the United States. The Zurich-based Neue Privat Bank (NPB) has paid $5 million (CHF5 million) fine to settle a criminal tax evasion investigation in the United States. NPB is one of a handful of so-called ‘category 1’ Swiss or Swiss-based bank branches that were still facing sanctions at the start of this year. On Thursday the...
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