Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Novartis AG employees in Shanghai have a new $1 billion home. The seven-building campus on the outskirts of Shanghai is accented by bamboo staircases and tree-lined courtyards. The company said the 1,300-person facility will be its third major research center, after Basel, Switzerland, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Foreign drugmakers are […]
Swiss federal votes – Sunday 5 June 2016
This coming Sunday 5 June 2016, Swiss will vote on a number of federal and cantonal initiatives. The five votes on the federal ballot this Sunday are set out in this article. The vote attracting the greatest international attention is the proposal to pay every adult an unconditional income of CHF 2,500 a month, and […]
Switzerland’s most expensive footballer
Last week, Swiss-born footballer Granit Xhaka, transferred from German football club Borussia Monchengladbach, to the English club Arsenal, ahead of the start of the European Championships on 10 June 2016. The Swiss mid-fielder, born to Kosovar Albanian parents in Basel, was transferred for £33.8 million according to London’s Evening Standard, the highest sum ever paid for a […]
One day in prison for breaking Swiss rubbish rules
According to Le Matin, a resident of the Swiss town of St-Légier-La Chiesaz, was shocked to receive a letter threatening her with a prison sentence for not putting her paper rubbish in the right place. Speaking to Le Matin she said “I received a penalty notice by registered post sentencing me to a 150 franc fine, or a day in […]
World’s longest train tunnel opens in Switzerland
The 57-kilometre-long Gotthard base rail tunnel was officially opened on 1 June 2016. It is the world’s longest train tunnel, longer than the Channel Tunnel and the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, which links the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokaido. The 200 km/h tunnel journey, which starts in the German-speaking Swiss canton of Uri and […]
Phil Collins hits the stage in Lausanne this Friday
Le Matin. Former Genesis drummer and singer, Phil Collins will be performing in Lausanne on Friday, 3 June 2016 to raise money for the charity, Little Dreams, which he started with his former Swiss wife Orianne. The 65 year-old singer drummer has been suffering from health problems and has rarely been seen on stage over […]
Is making profits good for Switzerland’s state-owned companies?
Initiative: In favour of public services Despite being majority owned by the state, Swisscom, Swiss Rail, and Swiss Post are all profit-driven: the Swiss government owns 51 percent of Swisscom and 100 percent of Switzerland’s rail and post businesses. For backers of the initiative, seeking profit stands in the way of these enterprises providing good levels […]
Are Swiss drivers being unfairly milked by the government?
Initiative: In favour of fair traffic financing Currently, not all of Switzerland’s fuel tax is allocated to improving and expanding Switzerland’s infrastructure, some of it flows into the overall Federal budget. Restricting fuel taxes to the road The Swiss People’s party (UDC/SVP) along with representatives from a broad selection of parties and interest groups, want all tax gained […]
Swiss growth unexpectedly slows
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Switzerland’s economy barely grew in the first quarter as government spending fell for the first time in a year. The slowdown to 0.1 percent followed expansion of 0.4 percent in the last three months of 2015 and fell short of the 0.3 percent growth that economists had forecast. The […]
New rules make it risky to hire a car in Switzerland and drive it in the EU
Rule makers in Brussels have been busy trying to streamline customs procedures within the European Union (EU). But ham-fisted drafting of the new rules, which came into force on 1 May 2016, has made it risky for EU residents to rent cars in Switzerland and drive them in the EU. In addition, an article on the British […]
