Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

According to SonntagsZeitung, the bank Credit Suisse has been spying on Greenpeace.  © Pincasso | Dreamstime.comNearly three years ago, the environmental organisation thwarted security and disrupted the bank’s general assembly with a stunt aimed at shaming Credit Suisse for financing Energy Transfer, a company involved in the construction of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline running through reserves in the US state of Dakota. Greenpeace said the environmental risks were too...

In 2018, the percentage of the population in Switzerland living below the poverty line fell from 8.2% (2017) to 7.9%, returning to the same level as it was in 2010. © Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.comMost affected by poverty were those aged under 18 (9.6%) and those aged over 64 (13.7%). Single parent families (19.3%), those without tertiary education (12.7%) and those without Swiss citizenship (11.6%) were more likely to have incomes low enough to place them below the poverty line....

Following the success of the pre-sale of Roger Federer coins at the beginning of December 2019, a further 37,000 will be issued by Swissmint in various minting qualities on 23 January 2020. The coins are commemorative. In addition to coins featuring the well-known tennis star from Basel, there is a tiny (3mm diameter) gold coin sporting an image of the famous theoretical physicist Albert Einstein who lived and studied in Switzerland. Einstein was a Swiss citizen from 1901 until his...

© Christian Heinz | Dreamstime.com A Swiss parliamentary commission, tasked with looking at the introduction of an environmental tax on flights departing from Switzerland, recently voted in favour a such a tax. A majority of 17 to 8 members voted in favour of the move. The tax would range from CHF 30 to CHF 120 per passenger depending on flight distance and class. Passengers transiting through Switzerland would not pay the tax. Those travelling in private aircraft...

A Swiss parliamentary commission, tasked with looking at the introduction of an environmental tax on flights departing from Switzerland, recently voted in favour a such a tax. © Christian Heinz | Dreamstime.comA majority of 17 to 8 members voted in favour of the move. The tax would range from CHF 30 to CHF 120 per passenger depending on flight distance and class. Passengers transiting through Switzerland would not pay the tax. Those travelling in private aircraft would be charged...

Speaking to CNN Money, Markus Will, a senior economist at St. Gallen University, described Trump’s speech, in which he didn’t mention climate once, as a “contradiction to the values of Davos.”  © Michael Hiatt | Dreamstime.com“It was a nationalistic, domestic, state of the union address from Davos rather than an improving of the state of the world speech which you should do in Davos”, he said, before adding, “you should disinvite him cordially for next year. He’s an anti-Davos man, he...

SNB building in Bern According to provisional calculations, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) expects to make a profit of around CHF 49 billion in 2019. Most of this comes from the rising value of the SNB’s foreign currency positions (+CHF 40 billion) and a valuation gain on gold holdings (+CHF 6.9 billion). After adjusting reserves, the SNB will have CHF 88 billion available for distribution. Since the announcement SNB shares have risen 2% to CHF 5,600. The central bank...

Periodically, the Economist magazine judges the value of currencies based on the prices of Big Macs. © Rosalie Anareta | Dreamstime.comThis time around the burger price comparison found only two currencies to be overvalued relative to the US dollar: the Norwegian krone and the Swiss franc. The franc was almost 20% overvalued according to their analysis – click here for chart. Earlier in the week the US Treasury added Switzerland to its “monitoring list” of trading partners whose...

The Swiss government is currently considering how to reform work-related pensions, known as 2nd pillar pensions. © Viacheslav Iacobchuk | Dreamstime.comPension finances are strained by longer life expectancy and low interest rates. Another issue is the low work-related pension savings of low earners and part time workers, groups women are far more likely to fall into than men. In 2017, the median monthly 2nd pillar pension payment for women was CHF 1,221 compared to CHF 2,301 for...

The US Treasury recently added Switzerland to its “monitoring list”. Those on the list are trading partners whose currency practices merit close attention.  © Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime.comThe list includes: China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, and Vietnam. It is no secret that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has been actively trying to weaken the Swiss franc. Switzerland has a large current-account surplus and the SNB has been making big...