Banking & Fintech

SIG profits fall 60 percent

This content was published on Mar 5, 2002 Despite the fall, SIG issued an up-beat assessment of the coming year, predicting a 20 per cent rise in sales. The company specialises in food and beverage packaging systems and has just finalised a two-year restructuring process, which included a raft of new purchases. “For 2002, SIG expects a further growth in net sales and…

Way clear for “swiss” to take to the skies

This content was published on Mar 5, 2002 The decision clears the way for the new national carrier, built around Crossair, to be launched as “swiss” on March 31. The ruling follows last week’s surprise move by the defunct SAirGroup to challenge the use of the name. The tribunal said on Tuesday that there was no risk of confusion between the names “swiss”…

Swiss spinoffs attract lion’s share of venture capital

This content was published on Mar 5, 2002 In a major swing away from putting their money into startups founded by “two guys in a garage” or startups based on “great ideas”, venture capital investors are putting their money into privately owned Swiss firms with strong intellectual property portfolios, says a new study published by SwissVenture Update (link below) that tracked and analysed…

Listed firms to come clean about executive pay

This content was published on Mar 5, 2002 The move comes after the Swiss-Swedish engineering group, ABB, revealed it had paid out SFr230 million in retirement benefits to two former CEOs, sparking a public outcry about the level of executive pay, and calls for more transparency. Under the new corporate governance directive, which is expected to be approved on April 17, companies will…

Bank chiefs grilled over Swissair

This content was published on Mar 5, 2002 UBS’s Marcel Ospel and Credit Suisse’s Lukas Mühlemann were blamed last October for not doing enough to keep the national carrier airborne. They had agreed a bail-out package for the collapsed airline, but the money did not come through fast enough to prevent the grounding of Swissair planes for two days. The then Swiss president,…

IMF sees upswing for economy

This content was published on Mar 4, 2002 In its annual review of the Swiss economy, the International Monetary Fund said the worst of the slowdown may soon be over and that it expected growth of just under one per cent this year, a little below the government forecast of 1.3 per cent. The IMF’s comments were echoed by the Swiss National Bank,…

Ascom sells mailing unit

This content was published on Mar 4, 2002 The transaction with Neopost will happen in two stages. First, Ascom is selling its North American mailing systems activities for SFr195 million. At a later point, Ascom will also sell its mailing systems activities outside North America. Ascom and Neopost are currently engaged in talks with the British competition authorities and an agreement is expected…

Sarasin strikes deal with Dutch bank

This content was published on Mar 4, 2002 Rabobank also has a call option to acquire 100 per cent of Eichbaum Holding through which Sarasin’s partners control the stock. The option to buy at a pre-agreed price runs through seven years. Sarasin said the decision to link up with Rabobank was based on a need to gain critical size in a highly competitive…

Voters throw out proposal to shorten working week

This content was published on Mar 3, 2002 Voters overwhelmingly rejected the initiative, which would have seen the working week gradually reduced to 36 hours. Not one canton came out in favour, and the “nos” were in the majority by 65 per cent nationwide. In some German-speaking cantons the initiative was thrown out by more than 80 per cent of voters. The trade…

Railways promote tunnel tourism

This content was published on Mar 3, 2002 The 57-kilometre Gotthard base tunnel has already welcomed more than 100,000 people -nearly half of them from abroad. In 2013, trains using the new tunnel will be able to carry passengers and freight through the Alps in about 20 minutes. But building work on the tunnel is moving slowly, as is evident during a visit…

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Banking & Fintech

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SIG profits fall 60 percent

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Way clear for “swiss” to take to the skies

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Swiss spinoffs attract lion’s share of venture capital

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Listed firms to come clean about executive pay

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Bank chiefs grilled over Swissair

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IMF sees upswing for economy

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Ascom sells mailing unit

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Sarasin strikes deal with Dutch bank

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Voters throw out proposal to shorten working week

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Railways promote tunnel tourism

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