Tag Archives: Latest News

The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech is one of three pre-ordered by the Swiss health authorities. Switzerland expects to start vaccinating the most vulnerable people this month already, and nationwide from January 4. Tampa Bay Times Swiss health regulator Swissmedic has approved the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech. According to the Swiss authorities, the level of protection is over 90% a week after the second dose. Two months after receiving the...

Switzerland ranks well on flexible working and good digital connections that allow people to work from home. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott Switzerland is among the countries best equipped to withstand the effects of the global pandemic, although no nation has emerged unscathed, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Alpine country does well on several of the indicators used in a WEF report released Wednesday in Geneva. Replacing its usual annual Global...

The UK market is being opened up to Switzerland in more than 30 service sectors Keystone An agreement that secures reciprocal, facilitated market access for service providers from Switzerland and Britain from January 1 has been signed by Economics Minister Guy Parmelin and Liz Truss, the British Secretary of State for International Trade. The Services Mobility Agreement (SMA), signed in London on Monday, regulates the mutual access and temporary stay of service...

Interior Minister Alain Berset at the press conference on Wednesday Keystone In summer 2019 the social partners agreed on a reform of the Swiss occupational pension scheme. The government on Wednesday adopted this compromise unchanged; the ball is now in parliament’s court. Occupational pensions have been under pressure for a while as a result of rising life expectancy and low interest rates. Following the rejection by voters of the pension reform in September 2017,...

The man worked as an expert inspector at Mühleberg nuclear power plant in 2010 Keystone The Federal Court has dismissed the appeal of a former employee of two Swiss nuclear power plants who was diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer. The man took legal action after the national accident insurance fund refused benefits for an occupational illness. The now 52-year-old man worked at the Leibstadt nuclear power plant in 2003 and 2004. In 2010 he worked as an expert...

Thiam radically reshaped Credit Suisse Keystone Tidjane Thiam, who resigned as CEO of Swiss bank Credit Suisse in February, has been tasked with using his connections to build up the Rwandan capital Kigali as an international business location, according to Swiss business newspaper Handelszeitung. Ivory Coast-born Thiam, who also holds French citizenship, has been named president of Rwanda Finance Limited, a government company that is to set up the Kigali...

Just 16% of Swiss would immediately get vaccinated against coronavirus, according to a recent survey Keystone Faced with considerable public scepticism towards a Covid-19 vaccine, the Federal Office of Public Health is preparing an information campaign about vaccinations. However, the country’s top hospital hygienist thinks offering incentives is a better way to make people get a jab. Just 16% of Swiss would immediately get vaccinated against coronavirus, according...

The Swiss Bankers Association said it regretted Raiffeisen’s decision Keystone Raiffeisen, Switzerland’s third-largest banking group, says it will leave the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) at the end of March 2021. It intends to represent its interests independently. “The banking sector and the interests of the various players in the Swiss financial centre have changed considerably in recent years,” Raiffeisen said in a statement on Tuesday. “As part of its group...

Despite concerns about global warning, coal is still being mined and burned all over the world. Keystone / Sascha Steinbach The Swiss financial market invests too much in oil and coal production, according to a review of nearly 200 financial institutions. Some 80% of the banks and asset management firms surveyed by the report have coal mining companies in their investment portfolios. “On average, the Swiss financial centre thus supports additional expansion of...

Checking the stock markets in Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse Keystone Shareholders in Switzerland want a rethink on how managers are paid and demand that priorities regarding corporate governance, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) be redefined, a survey has found. “Investors consider compensation systems not to be sufficiently aligned with social and environmental priorities and judge adjustments to bonus payments due to Covid-19 highly...