A recent publication by the Swiss federal statistics office shows there were around 73,000 children suffering from poverty in Switzerland in 2014. Poverty is defined by depravation calculated based on responses to a list of 18 questions1. These responses are used to determine actual poverty and the risk of poverty. Overall Swiss child poverty rates […]
Road tolls to increase in France
According to various newspapers in France, French motorway tolls are set to increase from 1 February next year. Price increases will vary by region, increasing on average by 0.76%, a rate exceeding inflation, which has been close to zero over the last twelve months. Motorways in southern France will see the biggest hike (+1.19%), while […]
Swiss are the world’s wealthiest, says report
According to a recent report by the bank Credit Suisse, the Swiss are worth more on average than the residents of any other nation. The bank’s annual Global Wealth Report calculates average net worth per Swiss adult to be US$ 561,900 (CHF 567,500). Switzerland’s combined personal wealth of US$ 3.5 trillion represents 1.4% of the […]
Temperatures as high as 20 degrees predicted for parts of Switzerland today
After a cold snap brought early skiing to the Alps, temperatures have swung back the other way. The warm wind from the south, known as the foehn, has brought high winds and warmer temperatures. According to Vincent Devantay of Meteo News, the weather phenomenon brought 163 km/h wind to the top of the 3,500m Jungfraujoch, and […]
Swiss regulator does not want to loosen mortgage restrictions
24 Heures. Swiss financial markets regulator Finma is not planning to loosen mortgage lending directives, according to its director Thomas Bauer, after the bank Raiffeisen expressed a desire for looser lending rules. In an interview with Zentralschweiz am Sonntag, Bauer said that this could allow certain households to get mortgages that they wouldn’t be able to service […]
Swiss towns want to ban the distribution of the Quran
Le Matin. According to Le Matin, recent German government action against salafistes is pushing the Swiss authorities to act. According to Tages Anzeiger, some Swiss towns have already taken action. The town of Brugg in the canton of Aargau banned distribution of the Quran in 2012. “It seems that radical islamists were behind it” explained the town’s […]
SMI up on post Trump rally
18 November 2016 – Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks continued to rise this week, in line with other global stocks thanks to a strong performance from financials which gained as investors weighted the prospects of higher interest rates in the US. Stocks in the financial sector advanced after […]
Swiss fact: Switzerland’s newest canton was created as recently as 1979
Most consider 1291 to be the date Switzerland became a nation. That year, the three cantons of Uri, Unterwalden and Schwyz, agreed to stand together against outside judges and aggressors. Progressively over the years Switzerland expanded from these three cantons, to 25, when Geneva joined in 1815. Switzerland would wait more than 160 years to […]
Geneva unveils big tax changes
Le Matin. After nearly ten years of European Union opposition to preferential company tax deals, Switzerland’s government agreed in 2014 to do away with such arrangements. Under current rules Swiss cantons can offer preferential tax rates to certain companies, mostly multinationals with most of their activity abroad. In Geneva, these special rates mean certain companies pay tax […]
International Geneva gets a new magazine in English
A new English-language magazine for international Geneva, called Global Geneva, launches its pilot issue this week. Le News interviewed the magazine’s co-founder and editor, former Le News editor, Edward Girardet, to find out why he started it and what it’s all about. Over a coffee with Edward in the UN cafeteria, he points out the window at […]
