Could other life exist in the universe? Switzerland’s largest natural history museum currently houses an exhibition on exoplanets looking at this question. Spread over 1,000 m2 on four floors, it is the largest exhibition of its kind. The museum also offers guided tours in English at 15:30 on Sunday 6 and 20 December 2015 and […]
SMI underperforms after Draghi disappoints
4 December 2015 – Weekly Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The SMI underperformed the MSCI World this week along with other European markets after a cut in the European Central Bank’s deposit rate and the magnitude of the extension of its quantitative-easing plan announced on Thursday afternoon disappointed investors. While […]
Geneva’s heavy 2016 tax burden
Every year the Swiss federal department of finance calculates the percentage of the tax base each canton will collect in tax in the coming year. Calculations for 2016 put Geneva in the lead with a tax burden of 34.2%, well above the Swiss average of 25.5%. The canton of Schwyz has the lowest percentage of 10.5%, sitting […]
Whizz through Lausanne at street level
Lausanne-based visual artist Sylvain Botter created this fast-paced two minute time lapsed montage of Lausanne in Switzerland. If you don’t know the city this video gives a great feel for what it’s like by taking you down into the city and through the streets. Buckle up. It’s fast. For more stories like this on Switzerland follow […]
ECB QE boost has opposite effect
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The European Central Bank unveiled a range of measures to tackle too-low inflation, from a cut in the floor for interest rates to an expansion of its bond-buying program by at least 360 billion euros ($390 billion). The Frankfurt-based ECB will extend quantitative easing by six months until at […]
Could Swiss banks start charging negative interest?
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Could Swiss banks start charging retail depositors negative interest? One already has. More might follow. In mid January 2015 the Swiss National Bank (SNB) started charging negative interest on certain deposits placed with it in an attempt to make holding Swiss francs less attractive. After abruptly abandoned its currency […]
Neuchatel bans nativity scene from town’s Christmas tree
Le Matin. Carved statues of Mary, Joseph and Jesus have been removed from under Neuchâtel’s town Christmas tree because the town doesn’t want to be associated with religious symbols. “The town’s Christmas tree shouldn’t be associated with religious symbols. It’s everyone’s tree, all citizens, non-religious and religious” said commune councillor Olivier Arni to archinfo.ch. The […]
Swiss economy unexpectedly stagnated in 3rd quarter
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss economic growth unexpectedly stalled in the third quarter, with momentum held back by weak performance in the energy, construction and financial sector. Output was unchanged in the three months through September, after increasing of 0.2 percent in the prior period, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs in Bern […]
Median Swiss salary up and well ahead of the US and UK
Switzerland’s median gross salary rose in the two years to 2014. 50% of salary earners earn less than the median while 50% earn more. In addition, the gap between the top 10% of earners and the bottom 10% shrunk. The Swiss median salary climbed to CHF 6,189 per month. This represents CHF 74,268 annually and […]
Switzerland turns away hundreds of Afghan refugees
Tribune de Genève. Around 1,800 refugees have been intercepted trying to cross into Switzerland over the last four weeks, and almost a quarter have been sent back to Germany, which has a policy of favouring Syrians. Swiss border guards have stopped around 1,800 refugees along Switzerland’s northern border over the last four weeks. 444 have been […]
