Switzerland Today

Greetings from Bern,

Here are the latest news and stories doing the rounds in Switzerland on Monday.

Keystone / Sebastian Gollnow

In the news: financial crime verdicts aplenty, and a US-Russia extradition saga involving Switzerland.

• Good and bad news for Switzerland’s biggest bank in Paris today as an appeals court confirmed that UBS is guilty of having assisted tax evasion, but reduced the penalty from €4.5 billion (CHF4.7 billion) to €1.8 billion. UBS helped French clients dodgers between 2004 and 2012 by enticing them to hide their money in Switzerland, the appeal court said. The new €1.8 billion charge consists of a €3.75 million fine, €1 billion of confiscated profits and €800 million in damages.
• Geneva prosecutors dropped a criminal investigation into suspected money laundering involving former Spanish king Juan Carlos. Investigators said today there was not enough evidence to support claims that a $100 million payment from Saudi Arabia to Juan Carlos amounted to bribery. It had been claimed that the $100 million, sent to a Swiss account belonging to the ex-King, represented a kickback in connection with a Saudi rail project awarded to a Spanish consortium.
• The Federal Criminal Court today dismissed an appealExternal link by a Kremlin-linked Russian businessman to block his extradition from Switzerland to the US. Vladislav Klyushin, whose company offers media monitoring and cyber-security services to clients including the Russian government, was detained by Swiss police in March on a US arrest warrant. Klyushin denies allegations of hacking into confidential information about listed US companies. In August, Swiss authorities turned down a rival extradition request by Russia.

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

In-betweeners: a new survey reports on how to bridge the urban-rural divide in Switzerland.

In the endless search for dichotomies to better understand things, the latest trend to hit Switzerland is the “city-country divide”. Apparently, urban bobo progressives are drifting further and further from their rural traditional down-to-earth counterparts, resulting in tensions, insults and data-rich analyses. Meanwhile, the country’s biggest political group, the rightwing People’s Party, has jumped on the chance, launching a campaign under the pleasant assumption that left-wing cities are “parasites” on the national body.

But what do normal folk think about it all? According to a survey published todayExternal link by Sotomo, people are at least aware of the gap: 25% think it is a “challenge” for the country, and two-thirds see it as a major issue. The overwhelming majority (92%) are in favour of bridging efforts, like taking urban schoolchildren to visit farms. Interestingly, however, the confusion starts when it comes to figuring out which camp you’re in: while a quarter of Swiss identify as rural, and a fifth as urban, the majority don’t put themselves as either. Only 8% report being either “very rural” or “very urban”.

The thing about Switzerland, Sotomo explains, is that it is neither one nor the other; most Swiss live in a small town or a suburb – an “in-between” place. So what do you do if you want to pin down your affiliation? The best way, Sotomo goes on, is the “Grüezi” (“Hello”) test: if you greet unknown people on the street, you’re probably rural. If you don’t, you’re likely urban. Aha! Is there an even better solution to the divide than school exchanges? If city people all started saying hello to each other, and if rural folk stopped, would we all experience a flash of empathy for the “other” that would dissolve the problem? Try it!

© Keystone / Leandre Duggan

Toblerone versus Swissone: round 2 in the latest bruising arena of chocolate trademarks rules.

After an embarrassing first-round beating in a trade court at the hands of young Bern start-up Swissone, the undefeated-since-1908 Toblerone is back in the ring for another crack – this time in the courts of justice. What’s the fight about? Edgy, dominant Toblerone does not like copycats, and it thinks Swissone – a somewhat round-edged but blocky-looking chocolate bar – has stolen its style. Not only has Swissone the gall to include the syllable “one” at the end of its name, it has also styled itself on mountain-shaped pieces, Toblerone claims!

The coach of Swissone, however, a certain Vernon Stuber, thinks Mondelez – Toblerone’s trainer – is full of pre-fight bluster. Young challenger Swissone has modelled himself (or herself) on “dunes and sea-shells”, Stuber told the SonntagsZeitungExternal link yesterday. He claims Swissone looks more like the Sydney Opera House than the Matterhorn, after which Toblerone famously fashioned itself. Moreover, Stuber adds, what’s inside counts too. And Swissone is almost 50% cocoa, while Toblerone is more than half sugar.

As for the odds for the next fight, this pundit can’t speculate. But in a legal reviewExternal link published in May, Zurich firm Walder Wyss said the initial case “could just as easily gone the other way”. “The similarities in the logos, in the packaging and in the shapes of the chocolate bars may each on their own, and even in combination, not be enough to affirm a likelihood of confusion,” the lawyers wrote. “However, the aspect of unfair exploitation of Toblerone’s reputation would have deserved more careful consideration.” Indeed, this time, Toblerone has opted for this very strategy, launching proceedings with a right hook of reputational damage. Ding ding!