Ahead of the Luzern carnival, which runs from 4 to 9 February 2016, the canton has produced a six page flyer featuring pictograms, covering subjects such as gender equality, religious tolerance, democracy, rule of law and rules around social interaction. The Swissinfo video below explains that the flyer is intended to inform foreigners about western behavioural norms […]
Switzerland welcomes Chinese investment in largest-ever deal
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Switzerland is welcoming ChemChina’s $43 billion takeover of Syngenta SA, the Alpine nation’s biggest-ever deal, with open arms. The only continental European country to strike a free-trade agreement with China, Switzerland has long been an attractive hunting ground for companies from the Asian giant. Unlike the U.S., which has […]
Swiss vote: the pros and cons of a new Alpine road tunnel
It is voting season again in Switzerland. On the Sunday 28 February 2016 Swiss citizens get to vote on four proposals. The first is to decide whether to build a second Gotthard road tunnel or not. The current Gotthard road tunnel runs nearly 17km under around one kilometre of Alpine rock from Göschenen in the German-speaking […]
Why Switzerland was ranked the most economically free nation in Europe
Switzerland was placed fourth globally in the 2016 Economic Freedom index published by the Heritage Foundation on Monday. One of only five countries declared economically free, Switzerland ranked top in Europe and was the only country in the top five not to lose any ground. In fact it improved by half a point. 178 countries were […]
The military weapons left on Swiss public transport
24 Heures. A recent ASMZ article in the Swiss military officers’ magazine revealed the number of military firearms left on Swiss public transport. In the first nine months of last year 18 firearms were recovered by public transport staff, noted the interim commander of the military police Christophe Schalbetter in his annual report. Chantal Galladé, a […]
Winter set to return to Switzerland. Again.
Tribune de Genève. After very mild winter temperatures, snow returns to Switzerland from Thursday. According to Meteo Swiss, a westerly air current is currently blowing warm spring air over Switzerland. On Sunday temperatures between 12 and 17 degrees were recorded north of the Alps. Temperatures were especially high for the season in Central Switzerland. Giswil […]
UBS’s miserable quarter
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. UBS’s results are a reminder that even the strongest boats are being buffeted by the storm in financial markets. Tuesday’s slump in profit from both investment banking and wealth management sent the shares to the lowest in a year. It also puts in question the premium valuation the bank […]
Top Swiss chef found dead
20 Minutes. He was supposed to be in Paris this Monday for the launch of this year’s Michelin Guide but never arrived. The head of one of three 3 Michelin starred restaurants in Switzerland, the Frenchman Benoît Violier was found dead on Sunday morning. According to the police, Violier a keen hunter, appears to have […]
Inequality in Switzerland
The Swiss federal statistics office has published the latest data on income inequality in Switzerland. The figures look at income and show how it is spread across the population. They also show the leveling effect of government redistribution. There is much talk about the haves and have-nots at this time of the year. Ahead of the WEF gathering in […]
Oxfam list of the 62 richest who own as much as the 50% poorest
Oxfam list of 62 richest who together own as much as the poorest 50%. Together these 62 are worth US$ 1,762 billion. This represents 0.7% of the world’s total US$ 250 trillion wealth – estimate by Credit Suisse. The driving forces behind these enormous fortunes are typically, brands that have gone global like Mars, Zara or Nutella, […]
