Archive – Banking & Fintech

House of Representatives backs electricity liberalisation

This content was published on Mar 20, 2000 All consumers should be able to pick their electricity supplier by 2008, according to Switzerland’s House of Representatives. The House overwhelmingly backed government plans on Monday for a stage-by-stage liberalisation of the power market, with full freedom to choose in place within six years of the passage of the relevant legislation. The House went along…

Swiss Day at Hannover Trade Fair

This content was published on Mar 20, 2000 The Hannover Trade Fair has opened in Germany, with many eyes looking at what Switzerland has to offer because the opening day is also “Swiss Day”. More than 180 Swiss companies are represented at the world’s largest showcase for the investment goods branch. Under the spotlight at the “Swiss Day” celebrations is the Federal Institute…

Business Week Ahead

This content was published on Mar 19, 2000 The reporting season continues here in Switzerland with some major corporate results out over the coming week. Swiss telecommunication giant Swisscom is expected by analysts to reveal higher net profits on Wednesday despite cuts in its call prices. The former monopoly operator, in which the Swiss government still owns 65.5 per cent, is expected to…

Experts look into whether faulty cockpit-lamps caused Swissair MD 11 crash

This content was published on Mar 19, 2000 Canadian crash investigators are examining a theory that faulty lamps in the cockpit led to the 1998 Swissair disaster in which 229 people were killed. The plane went down off the Canadian coast. The picture shows a Swissair MD11 cockpit. According to the SonntagsBlick newspaper, Swissair technicians drew the investigators’ attention to the possibility of…

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

This content was published on Mar 18, 2000 It’s been a busy week on the corporate front this week with a clutch of annual results which seemed to confirm that things are looking better for the Swiss economy. Credit Suisse, the country’s second biggest financial institution, showed net profit up 70 per cent at SFr 5.2 billion. Swatch came through with an increase…

Germany lifts ban on Swiss and British beef

This content was published on Mar 17, 2000 Germany has lifted an embargo on Swiss and British beef, imposed because of fears about BSE, or mad cow disease. The upper house of parliament ended the four-year ban, bringing German policy into line with the rest of the European Union. The proposal to remove the ban narrowly scraped through Germany’s Bundesrat with 39 votes…

Recovery in semiconductor market puts ESEC back in the black

This content was published on Mar 17, 2000 Switzerland’s ESEC Group, which produces assembly equipment and systems for the semiconductor industry, says it is back in the black. The group suffered huge losses in 1998, due to a massive glut in the semiconductor market. ESEC expects operating profit to reach ten per cent of sales of SFr448 million for the 1999/2000 financial year.…

Engineering group on track for US stockmarket listing

This content was published on Mar 17, 2000 The Swiss-Swedish engineering and technology group, ABB, says its plans for a stock market listing in the United States are well on course. The company’s chief executive, Göran Lindahl, told shareholders that ABB would file for a listing with the US Securites and Exchange Commission within the next few months. ABB has said the listing…

Parliament wants to make Switzerland attractive for big money

This content was published on Mar 16, 2000 The House of Representatives wants to make Switzerland a more attractive financial centre. The House backed calls to scrap stamp duty on the trading of shares and bonds. This will lead to a loss of revenue of around SFr500 million. However, the Social Democrats are threatening to call a referendum over the issue. They say…

Villiger furious about Abacha money

This content was published on Mar 16, 2000 The Swiss finance minister, Kaspar Villiger, has told parliament he was furious when he learned that the former Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha, had SFr1 billion stashed away in Swiss bank accounts. He said such cases damaged Switzerland’s image as a financial centre. Villiger said he was angry because he spent much of his time travelling…

Archive – Banking & Fintech

Popular Stories

Most Discussed