Tag Archives: Business

The logo at this Swiss petrol station is clean, but the Shell name is linked to two criminal investigations involving Swiss bank accounts. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Royal Dutch Shell has filed a criminal complaint against a former employee it suspects of stashing kickbacks from the sale of a Nigerian oil field in Swiss bank accounts. The energy company is already being investigated over another deal...

Petroplus went bankrupt after banks pulled the plug on financing (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Climate fund payments made to now-bankrupt Swiss oil refiner Petroplus cannot be reclaimed by creditors as they constituted a business arrangement that brought benefits to contributors as opposed to a gift. This ruling from Zurich’s highest court has stopped a CH15 million ($16 million) claim in its tracks, barring...

Tidjane Thiam, CEO of Credit Suisse, as seen in February (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam earned slightly less in 2017 during his third year on the job, the bank said on Friday. The news comes at a time of scrutiny over executive pay and bonuses. Thiam earned CHF9.7 million ($10.26 million) last year, a 5.3% drop on 2016, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank said. “The...

A traquil view of the Loentsch power plant on Lake Kloentaler in canton Glarus. (Keystone/Roland Schuler) - Click to enlarge The electricity consumed in Switzerland is ever greener, according to government statistics: some 62% comes from renewable sources, while nuclear has fallen to 17%. The figures (in French/German)external link were released on Monday by the Federal Office of Energy, which gathers each...

The agile fintech has so far been able to slip over EU borders (Loanboox) - Click to enlarge Award-winning Swiss fintech firm Loanboox is planning further expansion into Europe having obtained a foothold in Germany. The digital portal for matching institutions with investors plans a move into France and is also looking at other European markets. The Zurich-based company started off operations in Switzerland...

Illegal gold mining in Peru's Madre de Dios province has damaged the environment and had a negative impact on indigenous communities (Keystone) - Click to enlarge A report by the NGO Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has accused Swiss gold refiner Metalor of procuring gold from controversial suppliers in Peru. Metalor denies the charge. The reportexternal link, released on Thursday to time with the...

Despite the rise in foreign imports, the most popular cheeses are traditional varieties, such as the famous Emmental cheese. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Switzerland may be living up to its cliché as a cheese loving nation, but a growing appetite for foreign brands has alarmed local farmers. On average the Swiss consumed 21 kilograms of cheese per person last year, compared to 18 kilograms across Europe,...

A 2016 taxi driver protest against Uber, in Bern. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge For the first time, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has clearly indicated that Uber taxi drivers should be classed as employees rather than self-employed. In an internal statement seen by the 10vor10 programme on Swiss public television, SECO gave the legal opinion that according to the conditions that...

Swiss Federal Railways CEO Andreas Meyer presented the company's annual figures on Tuesday at a press conference in Bern. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The Swiss Federal Railway’s net profit increased by CHF18 million ($19 million) to CHF399 million ($418 million) last year despite posting a loss in its troubled freight division. The company confirmed a previous decision to cut 800 freight jobs but plans to...

Salt, formerly called Orange, is already established in the Swiss mobile market. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Mobile telephone operator Salt has announced that it will begin offering landline services in Switzerland, in a move set to intensify competition amongst current providers. Salt, which is already an established player in the mobile market, announced on Tuesdayexternal link that it would be proposing...