Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Foreign-exchange traders, bracing for chaos on the night of Britain’s European Union referendum, are preparing to fall back on techniques perfected before the era of computerized transactions. Banks are ready to draw on lessons learned after some electronic platforms failed during the storm of volatility that followed the Swiss […]
Swiss citizenship refused for wearing the wrong clothes
20 Minutes. It seems Scottish comedian Billy Connolly’s saying: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing…” can be applied to applications for Swiss citizenship. The newspaper Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, recently reported that a Kosovar family had been refused citizenship in the Swiss town of Bubendorf in the canton of Basel Landschaft. One […]
Inside Geneva’s Jet d’eau – the people and machines that keep 7 tonnes of water in the air
Ahead of the opening on 25 June 2016, of a sleek new walkway out to Geneva’s iconic 140 metre high jet of water, known as the Jet d’eau, Bill Harby met the team and got a look at the machinery that makes it all happen. Viewing Geneva’s famous landmark, the Jet d’eau, up close will soon be […]
The good things that happen when you put women in charge after a devastating earthquake
A year after the devastating earthquakes in Nepal, Swiss, Lausanne-based NGO Norlha is placing women at the heart of the recovery. “I thank God the earthquake took my plastic tunnel – used for sheltering crops – and not my family,” says Ambika Gurung, sending the room packed full of women into peels of laughter. The […]
Swiss unemployment falls in May
Official unemployment numbers show there were 144,778 people registered as unemployed across Switzerland at the end of May 2016, 4,762 fewer than in April. This decline took the unemployment rate from 3.5% to 3.3%. Despite this improvement, there were 8,429 more without jobs than in May last year when the unemployment rate was 3.2%. The […]
Brexit threatens to undo Swiss central bank efforts to bring down strong franc
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Once again, someone else’s crisis is threatening to make life more difficult for the Swiss. Ever since it abandoned an exchange-rate cap in January 2015, the Swiss National Bank has battled against the franc’s appeal as a haven, guiding the currency lower with intervention and interest-rate cuts in an […]
The Good Country Index – why Switzerland missed the top 10
Because many of the world’s biggest problems, such as climate change, disease pandemics and terrorism, are global, countries operating inwardly as if they were alone on the planet, can’t deal with them, says policy advisor Simon Anholt. He thinks getting countries to look outwards, be generous, and help humanity and the planet beyond national borders is essential. He […]
Why Switzerland’s unconditional basic income vote failed
Switzerland’s universal income proposal was rejected by voters on Sunday. And while a majority of voters in a small number of communes voted in favour of it, nationwide 76.9% were against it. So why did it fail? A number of people with a connection to Switzerland shared their views on Quora.com. Here are three: Read Pandy Legend's […]
5 June 2016 Swiss referenda results
The votes have been counted. The Swiss Statistics Office charts below show results by canton and district. The initiatives to pay an unconditional income, to change the way state-owned companies are run, and to spend further fuel tax on transport infrastructure have all been rejected. The vote on changes to asylum law has been accepted […]
Global stock markets flat on mixed economic data
3 June 2016 – Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Global stock markets are set to close largely unchanged this week. The Swiss Market Index (SMI) underperformed after data showed that Switzerland’s economy barely grew in the first quarter of this year. Sentiment swung between optimism and pessimism on mixed economic data […]
