Archive – Banking & Fintech

Insurers’ burden cut at pensioners’ expense

This content was published on Sep 10, 2003 From January, 1, 2004, insurers will have to deliver only a 2.25 per cent return, compared with four per cent just a year ago. The cut will be the second in a year – on January 1, the government reduced the rate of return on occupational pensions to 3.25 per cent. In a statement on…

Ticino winemakers gear up for rich pickings

This content was published on Sep 10, 2003 Around 70 per cent of wine production comes from the Merlot grape, but Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Semillon and Cabernet Sauvignon are also popular. Freddie Martin, a winemaker for Guido Brivio, one of Ticino’s biggest wine producers, tastes and compares dozens of wines a day to decide on the final blend – or assemblage – of…

Swiss Life swings back into profit

This content was published on Sep 10, 2003 The insurer added that it expected to finish the year in the black despite a projected dip in premium income. The result was more than double analysts’ expectations of around SFr30 million net profit and a serious improvement on last year’s SFr587 million first-half net loss. Tuesday’s figures provide the strongest suggestion that Swiss Life…

Switzerland’s Cancun challenge

This content was published on Sep 10, 2003 However, the five-day meeting in the Mexican holiday resort could trigger a new impetus for trade liberalisation. The consequences of this week’s conference will be crucial for Switzerland’s export-based economy. Swiss diplomats must defend the country’s agricultural protectionism and the interests of its farmers, while simultaneously championing unrestricted market access in other areas. The WTO…

Deiss visit to Brazil strengthens relations

This content was published on Sep 9, 2003 Among the developments made, he said, were discussions on dual taxation and a new level of friendship between the two governments. Deiss, accompanied by a group of around 30 Swiss business representatives, visited Brazil en route to Cancun in Mexico, where he will attend the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference. While in Brazil, he…

Energy agency urges introduction of CO2 tax

This content was published on Sep 9, 2003 However, the IEA also commended Switzerland for measures it had already taken to improve its energy policy. At a news conference on Tuesday, the IEA said Switzerland still had its work cut out if it was to meet the Kyoto targets on CO2, which oblige signatory countries to lower emissions to below 1990 levels by…

Switzerland calls for closer Middle East trade ties

This content was published on Sep 8, 2003 David Syz’s comments came amid renewed political instability within the Palestinian Authority, following the resignation of the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, over the weekend. Returning from a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Syz said one of Seco’s main goals was to fight poverty and unemployment in the Palestinian territories. “The most…

Swiss technology key to future of European trains

This content was published on Sep 8, 2003 Following successful trials, the Swiss Federal Railways is introducing a high-speed link between Bern and Olten which is to be running by 2005. The new line, which uses a new type of signalling system, will cut train times between Bern and Zurich to less than an hour. More significantly, it has brought the technology to…

Economy on recovery course but slow ahead

This content was published on Sep 5, 2003 The blue-chip Swiss Market Index reached its highest point of the year this week, fuelling hopes that the economy will pull out of recession soon. At the close of trading on Friday, the SMI had reached 5310.60 points, more than eight per cent up on the 4,899.50 recorded at the end of the first day’s…

Ascom losses trimmed by almost a half

This content was published on Sep 4, 2003 Ascom, which has been struggling to repair its balance sheet, said that its accumulated losses largely resulted from areas that had been sold or extensively restructured or were in a restructuring phase. The news sent the share price rising by more than 11 per cent on the Zurich stock exchange in late Thursday morning trading…

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