Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Risks to the Swiss real estate market remained “practically unchanged” at a risky level in the third quarter, kept in check by stagnant nominal owner-occupied home prices and declining investment demand for condominiums. The UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index rose to 1.38 points in the three months through […]
Mayor of Nyon throws his hat into the ring for 2016 elections
Daniel Rossellat, the current mayor of Nyon, throws his hat into the ring again, announcing this morning that he intends to run for mayor of Nyon in 2016. Known also as the organiser of the Paleo music festival, he has been the town’s mayor since 2009. Born in 1953 in the town of Yverdon-les-Bains he […]
5 myths about Switzerland
1. Swiss people work a lot An average Swiss worker spent 1,568 hours working in 2014, 11% fewer hours than the OECD average of 1,770. Workers in Greece (2,042), Portugal (1,857), Ireland (1,821), Italy (1,734) and the United Kingdom (1,677), all spent more hours at work. How Switzerland leads Europe on youth employment (Le New […]
Huge losses for Swiss National Bank
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank reported a loss of 33.9 billion francs ($34 billion) for the first nine months of the year, blighted by its foreign-currency holdings. The franc has rallied this year due to the SNB’s decision to remove its currency cap, resulting in exchange-rate related losses of 31.4 […]
More plane noise for some: Geneva airport’s new flight paths
From 31 March 2016, flight paths in and out of Geneva airport will change. The changes are part of an effort to harmonise flight routes across Western Europe. The new paths are intended to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, improve safety, and coordination between air traffic controllers across FABEC (Functional Airspace Block) countries, which include […]
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf quits Swiss ‘cabinet’
Tribune de Genève. Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf announced today that she will not seek reelection as a Federal Councillor in December, stepping down from her position as one of the 7-member executive team at the end of this year. Elected to the Federal Council in 2007, after a coup pushed fellow UDC (SVP) party member Christoph Blocher […]
Stunning time-lapse video of Swiss Alps
This video on Vimeo by One Lidless Eye takes you on a journey through some of the most dramatic landscapes in the Swiss Alps. It takes in northern Lugano, Ticino, and Zermatt in the canton of Valais, ending with the breath-taking Matterhorn. Bern hyperlapsed – visit Bern in 2 minutes (Le News 12.10.15) This year […]
The video behind the Swiss People’s Party’s election success
This week the Economist magazine wrote of the UDC’s (SVP) highly effective election campaign and how it was a key driver of the party’s record breaking success in last weekend’s election. Instead of using the combative slogans of the past, voters were wooed with softer messages. Swiss 2015 federal elections: UDC gains big ground (Le […]
Why Swiss rejected Daylight saving
At 3am this Sunday morning, Swiss time moves back one hour, giving Swiss residents an extra hour to sleep or party. Until fairly recently however, there was no Daylight Savings Time (DST) in Switzerland. In 1978 Swiss voters rejected plans to move to the current system of DST when 52.1% voted against it in a […]
SMI up, Roche up, Watch exports slump, Bank capital increases demanded
23 October 2015 – Weekly Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss financial market news Global stocks rallied after “Super Mario” signaled that additional monetary stimulus is on the table if growth continues to falter. The SMI outperformed global stocks after it received a further lift from hints that Europe […]
