Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

Investec Switzerland. Swiss banks focused on property lending are taking more risks to compensate for the impact of record-low interest rates, increasing the threat of a real-estate bubble, Swiss National Bank Vice President Fritz Zurbruegg said. © Vladek | Dreamstime.c “Exceptionally low interest rates are putting pressure on interest rate margins and this is weighing on the profitability of Swiss banks,” Zurbruegg said in a speech in Bern on Thursday. That “creates an...

Investec Switzerland. Richemont’s plan to slash 210 watchmaking jobs in Switzerland is sending shockwaves from Geneva to some of the country’s remote mountain villages, the cradle of high-end watch manufacturing. © Wing Ho Tsang | Dreamstime.com In Le Sentier, a town perched in the middle of the Jura mountain range, straddling the border between France and Switzerland, some 400 people protested Thursday against plans to cut the workforce of Vacheron Constantin and Piaget....

Investec Switzerland. Swiss pharmaceutical and luxury goods giants pulled the Swiss Market Index (SMI) down again this week as investors dropped large cap firms. Global stocks however continued to rise, along with energy prices, on the promise of Trump’s reflationary administration. The US dollar headed further up, reaching decade highs. © Asdf_1 | Dreamstime.com Better-than-expected economic reports from the US fueled speculation that the economy is strong enough to...

Today, Swiss Rail announced big price increases on some tickets and passes. The new prices will apply from 11 December 20161. New Swiss Rail uniforms – source: Swiss Rail According to the Swiss government consumer price index, average prices declined by 2.1% between October 2010 and October 20162. Over the same six years, from December 20103 to December 2016, the price of a second class Swiss Rail GA pass will have gone up by 22.3%, a rise of 25.0% in real inflation-adjusted terms. Over the...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss watch exports plunged 16 percent in October, the biggest monthly drop in seven years, as demand weakened in almost every major market for Rolex and Omega timepieces. © Oleg Palchyk | Dreamstime.com Shipments fell to 1.68 billion francs ($1.7 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said in a statement Tuesday. The decline was much greater than expected and was made worse because October was the weakest month of last year, according to...

Investec Switzerland. Switzerland risks becoming dependent on electricity imports as its citizens prepare for a plebiscite on whether to hasten its exit from nuclear power. Liebstadt nuclear power station_© Gregory Perkins | Dreamstime.com The nation faces losing a third of domestic supplies and becoming a net buyer of power if it opts to start closing its five nuclear plants as early as next year. The Swiss will vote on Sunday and the anti-nuclear proposal has a slender...

According to a recent report by the bank Credit Suisse, the Swiss are worth more on average than the residents of any other nation. The bank’s annual Global Wealth Report calculates average net worth per Swiss adult to be US$ 561,900 (CHF 567,500). Switzerland’s combined personal wealth of US$ 3.5 trillion represents 1.4% of the global total, while the nation’s population represents 0.1% of the global total. © Astra490 | Dreamstime.com Australia in second place, was well behind Switzerland...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks continued to rise this week, in line with other global stocks thanks to a strong performance from financials which gained as investors weighted the prospects of higher interest rates in the US. © Steve Allen | Dreamstime.com Stocks in the financial sector advanced after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the US central bank is close to lifting interest rates as the economy continues to strengthen and signaled her intention to remain...

Le Matin. After nearly ten years of European Union opposition to preferential company tax deals, Switzerland’s government agreed in 2014 to do away with such arrangements. Under current rules Swiss cantons can offer preferential tax rates to certain companies, mostly multinationals with most of their activity abroad. In Geneva, these special rates mean certain companies pay tax at a rate of 11.7%, while all others must pay 24.2%. © Andrey Popov | Dreamstime.com The first step in the reform is...

Investec Switzerland. According to Reuters, following an investigation, China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said, it found out that Tetra Pak violated some provisions in China’s anti-trust law and will impose a fine of 668 million yuan ($97 million) on Tetra Pak for “abuse of dominant market position”. Tetra Pak crumpled The Shanghai Daily said, SAIC found that Tetra Pak had broken anti-monopoly regulations such as abusing its monopolistic status to...