The insurance company AXA Winterthur took a database of the roughly 70,000 declared accidents that occur annually across Switzerland, and sorted them by canton to see which had the best driving record. The rate of reported accidents was highest in Italian-speaking Ticino, which was ranked last, just behind Basel-City and Geneva. Next from the bottom were Valais and Vaud. Higher […]
Swiss fact: Switzerland is one of the world’s top 5 coffee exporters
According to UN trade statistics, the small Alpine nation exported US$ 2.4 billion1 of coffee in 2013. This figure is far higher than its cheese (US$ 615 million2) or chocolate (US$ 822 million3) exports, two far more famous Swiss exports. In 2013, Swiss coffee exports ranked 4th behind Brazil ($5.3b), Germany ($3.4b) and Vietnam ($2.9b). Ethiopia, […]
Private funds and UN agencies need to cooperate more, says president of Oak
A Walk in the Park with Kathleen Cravero-Kristoffersson, the president of Oak Foundation. Cravero-Kristoffersson has always had one objective: to improve lives, especially for women. Sometimes this has meant putting her life on the line. Now president of Oak Foundation, a private family foundation headquartered in Geneva, she is focussed on issues of social and environmental concern, […]
Swiss banks probed at home over Brazil’s ‘Carwash’ bribe scandal
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Switzerland attorney general’s office is shifting its focus to banks operating in the country as it continues to investigate Brazil’s bribery scandal, after plea deals with individual executives provided fresh insights into how the illicit funds flowed through the financial system. Attorney General Michael Lauber said in an […]
The Swiss commune that inspired a Nobel-prize-winning theory on communal ownership
A traditional village in the Upper Valais helped give the world two of the most influential modern ideas in sociology and environmental activism. The region’s also worth visiting for its breath-taking 300˚ view of the Alps, visible from the top of an amazing high marshland, and for a super restaurant 2048 metres up above the […]
Migros Bank could pass on negative interest rates
20 Minutes. Because of negative interest, even a savings account earning 0% interest is earning too much reckons the bank’s boss. Soon many banks will be passing on some of the cost of negative interest to their clients, reports 20 Minutes. Migros Bank will need to seriously consider doing the same in 2017. The bank’s boss Harald […]
Regular passenger trains start running through world’s longest train tunnel
Tribune de Genève. The world’s longest train tunnel (57km) now has trains running through it. After spending CHF 12.2 billion over 17 years the tunnel is now open for business. Regular passenger trains running between Zurich and Bellinzona will now get there around 30 minutes faster, in a total journey time of 1 hour and 38 […]
Swiss government plan to reduce doctors’ visits
20 Minutes. Some Swiss politicians would like to focus minds on the costs of going to the doctor to reduce the number going for the most minor of reasons. Their plan would require deductibles to rise annually in line with increases in the cost of basic health insurance. Higher deductibles, they think, would put people off […]
Swiss-based Glencore’s Rosneft deal reopens battle for Russian commodities
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. In the cutthroat world of commodities trading, there’s no bigger prize than Russia. The country of Vladimir Putin has it all: oil, natural gas, aluminum, nickel, wheat, coal and many other riches. The world’s biggest trading houses have jostled over it for decades. In recent years, Trafigura Group had […]
Uncertainty prevails everywhere, says Draghi, but apparently investors don’t mind
9 December 2016 – Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. According to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi “uncertainty prevails everywhere” but apparently investors don’t mind. Market participants shrugged off last weekends “no” to constitutional reform in Italy and the subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to push European indices […]
