Tag Archives: Swiss Markets and News

Pallets in the warehouse of the logistics center of one of Switzerland's main online shops (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Swiss consumers are increasingly turning to the internet for shopping. Online sales were up by 10% in 2017, with a 23% increase in online purchases from abroad. The total sales generated from online shopping in 2017 was CHF8.6 billion ($9.2 billion) last year, with CHF1.6 billion going to...

Running for 57 kilometres under the Swiss Alps, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest rail tunnel in the world and took 17 years to build. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The 2018 European Railway Award has been awarded to two pioneers of the  Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest rail tunnel in the world that runs under the Gotthard massif in the Swiss Alps. Peter Jedelhauser of Swiss Railways and Renzo...

The chocolate for Walmart is produced in Coop's new production centre near Basel, named "Schoggihüsli" (Swiss-German for "little chocolate house"). (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Swiss retailer Coop is producing bars for Walmart’s own-brand chocolate, the SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday. The chocolate is produced in a newly established production centre near Basel and has been available in Walmart stores since...

French bus company owners regard the payments from Switzerland to CarPostal as illegal government subsidies by the Swiss Post. (SRF-SWI) - Click to enlarge The Post has been operating its French subsidiary, CarPostal France at a huge financial loss, reported Swiss public television, SRF, on Monday. The company is also accused of having used a price dumping policy to unfairly increase its market share in...

Demonstrators turned out in support of the Swiss News Agency strike earlier this month, saying cuts mean "information is threatened" (Keystone) - Click to enlarge After three weeks of talks, management and staff at the Swiss News Agency (SDA-ATS) have not managed to reach an agreement on job cuts, and are now calling for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to mediate. Both sides agreed to the call....

According to Swiss broadcaster RTS, Swiss retailer Coop, along with five other members of AgeCore SA, a Geneva-based purchasing alliance, have decided to boycott a large number of Nestlé products in the hope of striking a better deal on price. Coop Haupsitz, Hochhaus, Aussenansicht © Coop - Click to enlarge Sales to AgeCore SA members, which include Coop in Switzerland, Intermarché in France, Edeka in Germany, Conad in...

On 4 March 2018, voters in Vaud will vote on a plan to provide basic universal dental care funded by a tax on salaries. - Click to enlarge The initiative entitled: Reimbursement of dental care, Pour le remboursement des soins dentaires in French, claims that 10% of the population avoid the dentist because of the cost. They also claim links between poor dental health and cancer, diabetes and premature births. Their...

ICO's have been fuelled particularly by bitcoins (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The Swiss financial watchdog has published guidelines on digital currency fundraisers – known as initial coin offerings – under which it will regulate some ICOs, either under anti-money laundering laws or as securities. The Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) says the guidelines “also define the information FINMA...

Zug's online number plate auction, which began on February 8 and lasted for one week, was the first such event to be held by the canton. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge A number plate for the Swiss canton of Zug has sold anonymously at auction for CHF233,000 ($253,353), breaking the previous record of CHF161,000. For now, the buyer of the “ZG 10” plate remains unknown, as the item was sold on Wednesday at an...

While Switzerland isn’t the most financially secretive nation in the Tax Justice Network’s recently published report, its combination of size and secrecy pushed it into first place, the worst rank in the Financial Secrecy Index 2018. Size is factored in because it measures the damage a nation’s financial secrecy has on the world, says The Tax Justice Network. © Kevkhiev Yury _ Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The...