Tag Archives: Swiss Markets and News

UN experts estimate pesticides cause 200,000 deaths a year, 99% of which occur in developing countries (Keystone) In the wake of a Chinese takeover of the Swiss agribusiness group Syngenta, a Swiss advocacy group raises concerns about Switzerland’s regulatory role. Switzerland exports two powerful herbicides, atrazine and paraquat, to developing countries. However, these products, manufactured by Basel giant Syngenta,...

Switzerland will receive most of the money paid by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to a man who provided the state with stolen Credit Suisse client data, it has been confirmed. The CDs of stolen data and now the spy affair have tested German-Swiss relations - Click to enlarge NRW’s finance ministry paid €2.5 million (CHF2.7 million) in February 2010 for the CD, which contained tax details of Credit...

Building a transport tunnel through the Alps requires a lot of technical know-how (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Too many students turn their backs on engineering thinking it is a career for “nerds”, according to a leading Swiss business lobbyist. Changing this perception is key to plugging an expected shortfall of 50,000 engineering professionals in Switzerland. The proportion of engineers in the workforce...

The Swiss National Bank is the process of issuing new bank notes. A new 50 franc note hit the streets last year. Now it is the new 20 franc note’s turn. Officially launched today, it will enter circulation on 17 May 2017. A photograph of the note was posted on Facebook by Bilan: The new red note, designed around the theme of light, has a few secrets. It can be be washed without losing any of its colour, so you don’t...

The arrest of a suspected Swiss spy in Germany has raised questions about what roles the Swiss secret service, the state public prosecutor and UBS bank played in the affair. The 54-year-old man, known as Daniel M, is accused of spying on the German tax authorities to find out who sold stolen Swiss banking data. His arrest more than a week ago has prompted a diplomatic...

The arrest of a suspected Swiss spy in Germany has raised questions about what roles the Swiss secret service, the state public prosecutor and UBS bank played in the affair. The 54-year-old man, known as Daniel M, is accused of spying on the German tax authorities to find out who sold stolen Swiss banking data. His arrest more than a week ago has prompted a diplomatic...

A warm welcome – the Google reception in Zurich A new ranking shows the best firms to work for in Switzerland – with Google topping the large companies for a third time in a row. Important to employees in all categories: a respectful and motivational work culture. In all, 29 companies were awarded Best Workplaces in Switzerland in the Great Place to Work® Award Ceremony in Zurich on Thursday evening. The results were...

20 Minutes. On Friday, Easyjet added a 14th aircraft to its Geneva-based fleet. The new Airbus A320 will allow it to add new destinations. © Tommy Beattie | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The new aircraft will create 36 new jobs on top of the current 500 at the airline’s Geneva base, Thomas Haagensen, Easyjet’s director of northern Europe, told Le Matin Dimanche. Last year, the airline flew 900,000 more people from...

Asbestos being removed from a Zurich tower block in 2003 (Keystone) Despite a lack of progress to limit products such as asbestos and the herbicide paraquat, Switzerland is largely pleased with the results of a summit on chemicals and hazardous waste held in Geneva. “We obtained much more than we expected,” Franz Perrez, the head of international affairs at the Federal Environment Office, told the Swiss News Agency on...

Study in Switzerland – it’s high ranked Switzerland has the second best higher education system in the world, according to the 2017 Universitas 21 report, just below the United States. Is it just resources or is there another factor in play? The small alpine nation was ahead of the United Kingdom (ranked third) and its near neighbours in the classification of 50 countries, compiled by the Universitas 21external link...