Banking & Fintech

Switzerland donates to Afghan reconstruction fund

This content was published on Jan 21, 2002 At a conference in Tokyo on the rebuilding of war-torn Afghanistan, Switzerland said it would donate SFr30 million ($18.5 million) over 2002 and 2003 – mainly for humanitarian work and reconstruction. More than 60 countries are attending the two-day conference in Tokyo. Initial donations were pledged by delegates and by 20 international organisations gathered in…

Green Fairy emerges from the shadows

This content was published on Jan 21, 2002 Popularly known as the “Green Fairy”, absinthe has been banned in most of Europe since before the First World War, and blamed for any number of social ills. But in the Val de Travers, in the Jura foothills between Neuchâtel and Yverdon, this mythical drink – known locally as “The Blue” – is a source…

Building bridges across Kosovo

This content was published on Jan 20, 2002 Since the Swiss army contingent – called Swisscoy, for Swiss Company – began its mission in Kosovo in the same year, engineers belonging to the Pioneer platoon have completed 52 building projects on behalf of local communities. The 30-40 Pioneers – all volunteers – include architects, statisticians, builders and carpenters, and are assisted seven local…

Living online: A year in “Internet” house

This content was published on Jan 20, 2002 Just over a year ago, Daniel and Ursi Steiner from Immensee, canton Schwyz, were selected to move with their two adoped children into an Internet house, where aspects of everyday life are conducted online by mobile phone or voice command. The showcase house in the village of Hünenberg in canton Zug is a project developed…

Switzerland awaits new airline name

This content was published on Jan 20, 2002 Crossair’s board decided on the name of the airline last week but has refused to unveil it until legal enquiries are carried out to check that the brand isn’t already registered. Most analysts expect the name to involve some combination of the words “Swiss” and “Air”, possibly: Air Swiss or Swiss Airlines. The new identity…

Switzerland participates in poverty conference

This content was published on Jan 18, 2002 Delegates from industrialised and developing countries, as well as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), discussed the progress made on a poverty-fighting programme set up in 1999 by the IMF and the World Bank, called Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, or PRSP. “The recommendation was that we have to come to the implementation…

New web designs help draw customers

This content was published on Jan 18, 2002 The Swiss web designers, Art and Pixels, specialises in providing not just space on the web for its clients but also a full range of multimedia and graphic solutions for their needs. The company, which is based in the Swiss-Italian city of Lugano, came to life in 1993 when husband and wife team Gabriela and…

Swisscargo to close down

This content was published on Jan 17, 2002 Crossair said on Wednesday that it intends to set up its own cargo business. “The new airline cannot offer long-haul flights without having a good freight system,” said a company statement. It added that a team was working hard to establish the unit. Swisscargo, which has been operating under court protection from creditors, said its…

Room and boars

This content was published on Jan 17, 2002 Claudio Bernasconi has only tasted about 1,000 of the 2,500 whiskies lining the shelves of his hotel’s whisky bar, Devil’s Place. But then again, his collection and not his drinking habits have put him in the Guinness Book of World Records. “I travelled through India 25 years ago and because the water wasn’t clean, I…

ABB faces soaring asbestos claims

This content was published on Jan 17, 2002 The report, published by the investment bank BNP Paribas, estimates that asbestos-related claims in the United States are set to rise tenfold over the next decade to 660,000, with dramatic consequences for ABB. “The final cost to ABB of pending and future asbestos claims could be substantial compared to the $595 million sum currently provisioned…

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