Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Basel City will leapfrog Zurich to become Switzerland’s second-most attractive location for businesses by 2020 as Swiss cantons cut corporate tax to bolster their appeal, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. Basel, home of Roche Holding AG and Novartis AG, will move up two places in the ranking of […]
Swiss trains the most expensive in Europe
A study by GoEuro, compares the cost of travelling 100km by train. Switzerland led the ranking with the most costly train trips in Europe. Travelling 100km in Switzerland cost CHF 52. The study is based on the prices of 300 million domestic train journeys across Europe between April 2015 and April 2016. The price differences are significant. […]
Tablets pass the test at Geneva primary schools
Tribune de Genève. Since the beginning of the new school year, Geneva’s education authority (DIP) has been experimenting with tablets in the canton’s primary schools. Manuel Grandjean, school media director, is happy with the move. “Tomorrow’s school is already here” he said. In addition, he hopes that within a few months, all of the canton’s […]
Plan to limit Swiss immigration by offering jobs to locals first
20 Minutes. A Swiss parliamentary commission thinks it has found a way to implement controls on immigration. On 9 February 2014, Swiss voters decided by a slim majority of 50.3% to adopt new rules on immigration. The Swiss government has three years to implement the changes and the deadline is fast approaching. The biggest stumbling […]
UBS handed setback in $2 billion mortgage buy-back lawsuit
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. A UBS Group AG unit was found by a federal judge to have violated some contracts with mortgage-backed securities trusts that hold loans, putting it at risk of having to buy back more loans or pay damages in a $2 billion lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel Tuesday ruled […]
Syngenta CEO appoints new finance chief ahead of China takeover
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Syngenta AG Chief Executive Officer Erik Fyrwald appointed a new head of finance as he works to complete a new strategic plan for the world’s largest agrochemical company, soon to be acquired by state-owned China National Chemical Corp. for $43 billion. Mark Patrick, who has been with the company […]
Cash in a box catches on as Swiss negative rates bite
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. It’s a sign the world is getting used to negative interest rates when what once seemed bizarre starts looking like the norm. Consider Switzerland, where more and more companies are taking out insurance policies to protect their cash hoards from theft or damage. “Because of the low interest rate […]
Roger Federer skips the US Open and heads to the Swiss mountains
Roger Federer has had a painful year. In July, the 35-year-old tennis champion said he would sit out the rest of the 2016 season to recuperate from knee surgery. On 22 August he posted a photo of himself on Twitter training with the comment: “Did some tennis training this week. Feeling great.” Right now he is […]
Switzerland’s new Gotthard train tunnel might be too small
20 Minutes. The new Gotthard train tunnel, which opened on 1 June 2016, might have a serious design flaw. Next December, Swiss Rail plans to start running high speed trains through the tunnel. The planned speed of these trains is 200 km/h. There are now fears that the tunnel is too tight to run trains this fast. As […]
Proposed integration laws rejected by Swiss government commission
20 Minutes. A government commission has rejected proposed laws designed to improve the integration of foreigners in Switzerland, with 12 votes against, 9 for, and 2 abstentions. By early 2014, the Swiss National Council and Council of States had made good progress on the project. Then, following the successful popular vote in February 2014 to […]
