In Switzerland, much in life revolves around the canton. Cantons have their own health, social and education systems, parliaments and tax rates. Federal government, based in Bern, is a layer that sits over the top, bringing the cantons together as Switzerland. For some cantons, nationhood has a cost. For others it means extra money. Every […]
Swiss offshore wealth management sector still world’s largest by far
A report by The Boston Consulting Group highlights the size of Switzerland’s personal offshore wealth management sector. Total personal offshore wealth grew by 6% to reach US$8.2 trillion in 2017. US$2.3 trillion (28%) of this was managed in Switzerland. The top three offshore centres: Switzerland ($2.3 trillion), Hong Kong ($1.1 trillion) and Singapore ($0.9 trillion) […]
Swiss parliament rejects initiative calling for primacy of Swiss law
On 12 June 2018, an initiative calling for a constitutional amendment, which would place Swiss law above international law, was rejected by the National Council by 129 to 68 votes, after a lengthy nine hour discussion spanning three days. Earlier, the initiative dubbed: Swiss law not foreign judges, organized by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), […]
Switzerland’s parliament narrowly votes for women’s quotas on company boards
Yesterday, Switzerland’s National Council, or parliament, voted 95 to 94, with 3 abstentions, to introduce quotas for the management and boards of quoted companies. Boards will be required to have 30% women and management teams 20%. The rules could affect 250 companies. At the same time the quotas will not come with sanctions. Companies would […]
Switzerland’s PostBus scandal – entire management team suspended
PostBus, the nation’s postal bus service, receives government aid based on its financial performance. With around 2,200 bright yellow buses operating on around 900 routes, it forms an important part of Switzerland’s transport network and employs around 4,000 people. However, not long after the private PostBus company was created in 2006, it started manipulating its […]
Vaud plans tax cuts
Last week, Vaud’s government announced a plan for future tax cuts. The residents of Vaud are among the highest taxed in Switzerland. In 2016, a single person in Lausanne earning CHF 100,000 paid CHF 16,050 in cantonal and communal tax on top of CHF 1,840 of federal tax. This was the fourth highest across all […]
Plan to drop French in primary school rejected by voters in Basel-Landschaft
Over the weekend, a majority of voters in the canton of Basel-Landschaft rejected a plan to remove French from the primary school syllabus. The plan entitled: Stop overloading pupils, called for removal of French from the syllabus. Most children in German-speaking Switzerland speak Swiss German at home. When they go to school they must learn […]
Geneva – school ramadan recommendations spark outcry
The canton of Geneva takes the separation of state and religion, or laïcité, seriously. Article 3 of Geneva’s constitution, states that the government and its institutions should be secular, religiously neutral, not pay clerical salaries or subsidise any religious activity, while maintaining relations with religious communities. In 2016, the canton’s public schools were sent a […]
Reaction to Swiss newspaper article on Serena Williams’ tennis outfit goes viral
A reaction to an article in the print edition of the Swiss newspaper le Nouvelliste, which has a photograph of the tennis star in her latest tennis costume and the headline: Tennis : Serena Williams, a real lack of taste1, has gone viral on Facebook. Catsuit anyone? For all the moms out there who had […]
Voters in Swiss canton of Valais reject Winter Olympics
Today, the government of Valais asked its voters if they wanted to spend CHF 100 million on the 2026 Winter Olympics. This money would have been the canton’s contribution to the overall funding of the games should its capital city Sion win its bid for the Games. CHF 60 million was earmarked for infrastructure and […]
