Banking & Fintech

OECD appoints Swiss to key position

This content was published on Feb 13, 2001 The Economics ministry said on Tuesday that 55-year-old Luzius Wasescha would replace the Swede, Arne Rodin. It’s the second time a Swiss has held the post. The committee is concerned with the coordination of OECD members’ trading policies and meets three to four times a year. Top of the OECD agenda at the moment is…

Explosion at Novartis evokes memories of Schweizerhalle disaster

This content was published on Feb 13, 2001 Nobody was injured in the blast, which caused severe damage to the building in Schweizerhalle in canton Basel Country, blowing out windows and scattering glass over a radius of 50 metres. Police said some 200 fire fighters were needed to bring the resulting blaze under control, and reinforcements were brought in from the nearby towns…

Sika Finanz boosts sales

This content was published on Feb 13, 2001 In a statement on Tuesday, the construction chemicals specialist also confirmed forecasts that its net profit would rise to around SFr100 million from SFr93 million in 1999. It said it is planning to raise its dividend to SFr2.3 per share from SFr2.1. Sales of construction chemicals rose 16.8 per cent to SFr1.47 billion, while turnover…

Switzerland in the grip of carnival fever

This content was published on Feb 13, 2001 Carnival in Lucerne gets off to a loud start at five in the morning on “Fat Thursday” (February 22), with the “big bang”. The gun salute kicks off five days of round the clock partying in the normally sedate town. The event ends on the following Tuesday with a “monster concert” by about 100 groups…

Foreign minister says international support is key to African stability

This content was published on Feb 12, 2001 Speaking in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, at a conference of Swiss ambassadors in Africa, Deiss said poverty was the root cause of conflict in certain countries. He added that conflict had led to the displacement of millions of people and the disruption of economies. The foreign minister said Switzerland was ready to assume its responsibilities…

More Swiss choose higher excess to cut health insurance premiums

This content was published on Feb 12, 2001 According to the Department for Social Security, half of all Swiss residents now pay lower health insurance premiums because they have upped their excess – or the amount they must pay each year before insurers are obliged to foot the bill. The trend is nationwide but most marked in French-speaking western Switzerland and Italian-speaking canton…

British firm bids for Selecta

This content was published on Feb 12, 2001 Compass is offering to pay SFr540 ($327) per share to take control of the two thirds of the enterprise it doesn’t already own. The news sent Selecta’s share price rocketing by nearly 28 per cent on the Zurich Stock Exchange to SFr530 per share on Monday. The friendly cash offer by one of the world’s…

Couchepin calls for new round of world trade talks

This content was published on Feb 12, 2001 Couchepin said on Monday that he hoped a new round of talks would be opened at the next meeting of World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Qatar in November. He said that as long as deadlock persisted at the WTO, poorer countries would continue to suffer economic exclusion “because the WTO is the only forum where…

Financial institutions target growing band of small investors

This content was published on Feb 11, 2001 Aimed at people seeking new kinds of investment products, Fonds 2001 revealed just how vast a selection is available in Switzerland, Gregor Johner one of the organisers of Fonds 2001, told swissinfo. “There are 2,600 mutual funds on offer here alone. So it is difficult for people to get an overview as they have to…

Davos Forum hackers wanted to “attack the rich and powerful”

This content was published on Feb 11, 2001 In an interview with the Swiss weekly newspaper, “SonntagsZeitung,” the group justified its actions, saying that it had used “good sabotage” to make a statement about the freedom of information. They were quoted as saying that the cyber-attack had been an attempt to destabilise the forum and “undermine the influence of the Davos authorities”. They…

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