Tribune de Genève. After more than two years of a highly overvalued franc, relative to the euro, the currency should ease in the near term reckons Thomas Flury, senior currency strategist at UBS. He expects a euro to be worth 1.14 francs in 6 months and 1.16 within a year. Emmanuel Macron’s victory and Marine […]
Swiss franc rises to strongest level since June
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Swiss franc climbed on Wednesday as global stocks fell and demand for haven assets increased on growing concerns that the U.S. presidential race had tightened. The franc reached its strongest level versus the euro since June and advanced against the dollar. Demand for havens is being stoked after […]
Why Switzerland’s franc is still strong in four charts
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan keeps saying the franc is “significantly overvalued.” And that’s despite the central bank’s record-low deposit rate and occasional currency market interventions. While the franc is typically a top choice for foreign investors looking for a safe place to park their money, anxieties about […]
Switzerland right to scrap franc cap, economists say
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank’s surprise decision a year ago to remove its ceiling on the franc was justified, according to the vast majority of economists in Bloomberg’s monthly survey. The SNB abandoned the cap on Jan. 15 of last year, saying interventions to sustain it would have been out […]
SNB pledges willingness to intervene on strong franc
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss National Bank Vice President Fritz Zurbruegg said the economic backdrop remains far from normal and kept alive policy makers’ ongoing threat of currency interventions to tackle the “overvalued” franc. “Under certain conditions, however, the SNB is prepared to intervene directly in the foreign exchange market,” Zurbruegg said in […]
Basel firm to pay staff in Euros
24 Heures. The Basel-based clothing retailer Tally Weijl announced that it will pay new employees working at its Swiss headquarters in Euros instead of Swiss francs, sweeping aside plans to move the office across the border to Lörrach in Germany. This way the clothing company can better manage the risks associated with exchange rate movements. With […]
Switzerland’s ambition for a weaker franc seen as a forlorn hope
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Currency markets just won’t cooperate with Thomas Jordan. When the Swiss National Bank president repeated a warning for buyers to steer clear of the “significantly overvalued” franc last week, the impact of his words was blunted by a European Central Bank pledge to reassess its stimulus plan. Switzerland’s currency […]
Switzerland narrowly escapes recession. How serious is this?
Tribune de Genève. Today’s quarterly Swiss GDP growth statistics show 0.2% growth compared to the previous quarter narrowly missing two consecutive quarters of contraction, the official definition of a recession. The Tribune de Genève interviewed Andreas Höfert, the chief economist at UBS Wealth Management, ahead of today’s release of the latest quarterly GDP growth estimates […]
The Swiss franc – to Euro parity and beyond?
With a number of ups and downs the Swiss franc has gained ground against the Euro since February and there appears to be little the Swiss National Bank (SNB) can do to manage its value. Last Wednesday in an attempt to halt the rise the SNB extended the range of institutions that must pay its […]
The Swiss introduce their version of a 35-hour week
On 27 January 2015 the Swiss government announced that Swiss companies could reduce their wage bills by cutting staff working hours and compensate them for the lost pay with partial unemployment benefits. The objective of the measure is to limit layoffs brought about by the rapid rise of the Swiss franc. Companies are required to […]
