Tag Archives: Switzerland

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Using the third pillar in Switzerland is a great way to save money on your taxes. However, it is not always easy to choose a third pillar provider since there are many of them, and new ones are regularly coming. Freya 3a is a new third pillar available in Switzerland. They aim to provide sustainable investments for the third pillar, and they claim that they are doing differently than the existing third pillars and at a reasonable...

In the NZZ, Hansueli Schöchli summarizes recent evidence. Wer in der Schweiz im Jahr 2017 wie viel Einkommenssteuer bezahlte Anteil Steuerpflichtige (in Prozent) Anzahl Steuerpflichtige Minimales Reineinkommen in Fr. Durchschnittliche Steuerbelastung (in %) Anteil der Einkommenssteuer Bund/Kanton/Gemeinde (in %) 0,01 515 4 548 020 43,8 4,82 0,1 5 150 1 109 760 37,3 9,89 1 51 498 331 731 34,4 24,04 5 257 489 152 799 28,1 42,55 10 514 978 111 403 24,6 53,03 25 1 287 444 73 769...

How planning ahead and preparing for what lies ahead is a lesson everyone needs to learn   Over the last couple of months, it has become clear from conversations with friends and partners from the gold industry that there is a marked increase in retail demand for physical gold from Swiss investors. The most interesting thing about this development is that the bulk of new orders is coming from smaller accounts, showing that it’s ordinary savers and citizens that are driving this...

Overview: The global capital markets are subdued today as investors wrestle with the rising virus, the shifting stance of several central banks, and a more tense geopolitical backdrop.  Equity markets are struggling today.  Most of the large bourses in the Asia Pacific region, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, moved lower, and Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 threatens to snap an eight-session advance.  US futures are narrowly mixed.   The US 10-year yield...

NZZ, August 10, 2021. PDF (title changed by NZZ). Should the SNB follow the Fed and the ECB and rework its strategy? There is a case for rethinking the broad inflation target, the monetary policy concept, and the communication strategy. Equally important is a strategy review outside of the SNB: The SNB cannot and must not decide about the framework within which it operates. Conclusion: Daher ist eine Strategieüberprüfung inner- und ausserhalb der SNB sinnvoll....

NZZ, August 10, 2021. PDF (title changed by NZZ). Should the SNB follow the Fed and the ECB and rework its strategy? There is a case for rethinking the broad inflation target, the monetary policy concept, and the communication strategy. Equally important is a strategy review outside of the SNB: The SNB cannot and must not decide about the framework within which it operates. Conclusion: Daher ist eine Strategieüberprüfung inner- und ausserhalb der SNB sinnvoll. Geldpolitisch...

Part I of II, by Claudio Grass, Hünenberg See, Switzerland The covid crisis, and especially the destructive governmental responses to it, have wreaked havoc with the global economy and with our societies. However, the chaos and the widespread uncertainty that prevailed over the last year and a half also served as a useful reminder of the importance of stability, legal predictability and limited state powers.  A great number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) seem to have...

In his University of St. Gallen MA thesis entitled “CBDC with Collateralized Pass-Through Funding,” Bastian Wetzel assesses how strongly banks would be affected by deposit outflows into retail CBDC: The results of the study show that 92.7 percent of all sight deposits in the aggregate Swiss banking sector are covered by excess liquidity and eligible assets, whereas sight deposits held in CHF are covered by over 100 percent. Therefore, the collateral constraint seems to be a problem...

The NZZ argues that Switzerland is stuck (presumably when compared with first best, not relative to other countries), and it features evidence in a series of columns.

In a new working paper the Swiss Bankers Association identifies challenges for banks. Nevertheless it argues that [a]ny conclusion that the status quo is the least risky option seems premature and shortsighted. … The introduction of digital currencies and design questions regarding payment methods and infrastructure represent strategic business as well as political challenges on which public authorities and business must take a productive position. An informed discussion on the...