Tag Archives: Latest News

Bling on the landscape? Voters in Geneva will be able to have their say on adverts like this © Keystone / Christian Beutler The inhabitants of Vernier, a municipality in Geneva, are set to have their say on banning advertising billboards. A referendum launched against a new law banning this form of communication has collected 2,300 signatures, the co-chairman of the referendum committee, said on Monday. A total of 1,921 valid signatures had been required. Last...

Buying a train ticket with a bicycle will become easier; getting the bike onto the train won’t Keystone / Gaetan Bally Ticket prices for Swiss public transport will remain stable for 2023 for the seventh consecutive year. Only “a few tourist businesses” are planning to adjust their fares for next year, says the SwissPass Alliance. In addition, from December 11, when the new Swiss Federal Railways timetable comes into effect, there will be a customer group specific to...

Parmelin said that before the end of March next year the risk of a shortage was very small © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin assumes the energy crisis will last several years. It is important, he says, not only to think about the winter, but to do everything to ensure that Switzerland produces more energy – that means more renewable energies and greater efficiency. In 2023 and 2024 Switzerland will still be dependent on oil...

Many people have struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic © Keystone / Christian Beutler A 48-year-old businessman in Geneva has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence for making a fraudulent claim for a Covid loan that was 100 times the correct amount. He was found guilty of fraud and forgery of documents. “You expressly deceived the authorities in connection with the coronavirus pandemic,” the judge at Geneva Criminal Court said on Friday. “Your...

Swiss Army knives are very popular in Russia, the fifth-largest market for manufacturer Victorinox © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Leading Swiss brands have withdrawn from Russia because of the war in Ukraine. However, research by a Swiss newspaper shows that while a company can leave a country, its products often remain on shelves. “It’s a mass exodus. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, thousands of foreign companies have left the country. Some with grand...

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is planning to expand its flight schedule next summer to offer 85% of its pre-pandemic capacity. To this end, it is now busy recruiting flight attendants. In the summer timetable, which runs from March 26 to October 28, 2023, SWISS will serve a total of 112 destinations from Zurich and Geneva, it said in a statement on Tuesday. “On the intercontinental front, the emphasis will be on the destinations in North America which are in...

The Swiss bank said it had reached a final settlement with the New Jersey Attorney General © Keystone / Michael Buholzer Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $495 million (CHF496 million) to settle a case brought against it in the United States, the latest pay-out related to past blunders that have battered the Swiss bank’s reputation. Credit Suisse said it would make the pay-out to settle claims brought by the New Jersey Attorney General related to the bank’s...

Five additional countries, including Nigeria, now benefit from an automatic exchange of banking information with Switzerland, taking the total to over 100 for the first time. On Monday, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration revealed that it had provided details of around 3.4 million bank accounts held by foreigners (or those with a fiscal residence abroad) to their countries of origin or residence this year. In return, it had received information on banking...

Despite a negative outlook overall, most CFOs believe that their companies will experience growth in the near future © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Chief financial officers (CFOs) are more pessimistic about the economic outlook for Switzerland than they were six months ago, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte for the second half of 2022. However, a majority of the 127 managers surveyed believe that their companies will experience growth in the near future. “The...

Not one hacker managed to penetrate the Swiss Post’s e-voting system during a security test, according to Swiss Post. The system withstood 60,000 attacks. Some 3,400 hackers probed the system to find security gaps, Swiss Post said on Wednesday. No findings of medium, major or critical severity were received. One finding had a severity level of low. Swiss Post said this did not affect any safety-relevant aspects but was fixed. In the so-called intrusion test,...