Iran trade trip, SNB and Credit Suisse AGMs

Andrey Lunin

Stories we are following the week of April 20, 2015 

Beefing up business ties with Iran

Nuclear talks with Iran may still be ongoing, but Swiss businesses are getting a head start in exploring potential for trade. With its vast gas and oil resources and more than 80 million inhabitants, many of whom are well-educated and wealthy, Iran has great economic potential, especially if sanctions are lifted. A delegation of business representatives travels to the country on April 26. Who’s taking part is still under wraps. swissinfo.ch looks at the contenders.    

Keystone

Money talks: the SNB and Credit Suisse AGMs

It’s the season for AGMs, and two majors are coming up on Friday: Credit Suisse and the Swiss National Bank. It will be the last annual general meeting for Credit Suisse’s outgoing CEO Brady Dougan, who makes way for Prudential boss Tidjane Thiam in June. Meanwhile, over at the SNB, chairman Thomas Jordan is due to address shareholders. Will he continue to take stock of the central bank’s decision to drop the franc’s euro peg in January? 

The_Warfield

Gunning for gender equality

The push for quotas for women in the boardroom will be ramped up on Tuesday when the Swiss employers’ association presents portraits of 400 womenExternal link it says are executive material. With women’s appointments to the upper echelons of companies averaging at around 11.6%, Switzerland is below the EU average (15.6%), despite a move by the justice minister to set a legal minimum of 30% for all publicly listed firms. 

Keystone

Taking a new tack against alcohol 

How much is too much? It’s a question health officials will be asking at the launch of a new alcohol prevention campaign on Thursday. While the trend over the past decade has seen Swiss drinking less, consumption is still double the global averageExternal link, according to the World Health Organization. 

Keystone

Solar Impulse, off the ground?

The wrong weather has grounded the Solar Impulse plane in China during its around-the-world tour. The plane parked in a hanger in Chongqing on March 30. But the team hope to head to their next China stopover, Nanjing, sometime after Tuesday.

What you may have missed last week

Swiss caving enthusiast Thomas Arbenz knows all about tight spots. He’s been burrowing underground for almost 50 years. He chats to swissinfo.ch about his latest adventure to caves in Meghalaya, India and what he discovered there.