Banking & Fintech

UMTS technology promises Golden Age at a price

This content was published on Dec 9, 2000 “Hello, Mr Fischer. It’s the 25th February 2003 and the time is 7am. The weather is cloudy but it’s expected to brighten up this afternoon. The temperature is eight degrees Celsius. Your first appointment is at 9am with Mr Aroyo.” Those words are not spoken by a hyper-efficient butler, but by a mobile phone lying…

Swissair grounds A330s to check engines

This content was published on Dec 8, 2000 The Swiss carrier cancelled several long-haul flights after French authorities grounded various production series of the Airbus A330 plane powered by Pratt & Whitney engines. Swissair has a fleet of 15 such planes and announced late on Friday that it had suspended service with 11 of them. The remaining four were not affected. In Brussels,…

Central bank leaves interest rates unchanged

This content was published on Dec 8, 2000 Announcing his decision on Friday, the president of the central bank, Hans Meyer, said the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) would remain the same at three to four per cent. Meyer said that, despite the strength of the Swiss economy, inflation was well under control, and “there was no sign of price instability in…

Switzerland to speak for Yugoslavia at IMF

This content was published on Dec 8, 2000 The finance ministry said on Friday that Yugoslavia would join a group of countries which Switzerland represents at the IMF and World Bank, following an offer made by the Swiss president, Adolf Ogi. The ministry added that Belgrade would receive technical and financial support from Switzerland in its efforts to become a fully-fledged member of…

Montreux makes merry the traditional way

This content was published on Dec 8, 2000 The president of the Montreux Christmas market, Pascal Bettex, stops and inhales the enticing smells of freshly baked biscuits and cakes coming from a chalet run by a confectioner from France’s Alsace region. More than 100 small wooden chalets have been set up on the Grand Rue and in the covered market place. “That’s what…

Swissair considers role in Malaysian Airlines

This content was published on Dec 7, 2000 Swissair spokesman, Jean-Claude Donzel, confirmed on Thursday that talks were underway between the two national airlines. “We are in discussions with Malaysian Airlines on a close commercial cooperation,” he said. However, Donzel refused to confirm that Swissair was planning to buy into the Southeast Asian carrier. He was responding to comments by Malaysian Airlines chairman,…

Swiss Re to sell of Bermuda-based subsidiary

This content was published on Dec 7, 2000 In a statement on Thursday, the company said its holding would be sold to two buyers: the captive management and risk finance consulting operations of IRMG is to be acquired by the Aon Corporation, while the property loss consulting business of IRMG – Global Risk Consultants – will be acquired in a management buy-out. It…

Economy continues to grow but slowly

This content was published on Dec 7, 2000 The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said Gross Domestic Product grew two per cent in the third quarter, down from 2.8 per cent in the second. But compared to the same period last year, growth was up by 3.6 per cent. The figures were at the higher end of expectations, and as a result the…

Internet web site aims to combat art theft

This content was published on Dec 7, 2000 Between 1997 and 1999 the number of art objects stolen in Europe rose by 80 per cent and only three per cent of them have been recovered. The company says it takes at least a month and a half to alert the entire professional art world. “We are aiming to reduce that time to about…

Bidders fork out “paltry” sums for Swiss UMTS licences

This content was published on Dec 6, 2000 It took just three hours for the four operators – Swisscom, Orange, Telefonica of Spain and dSpeed (Sunrise/diAx) – to place their bids and walk away with their Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licences. Only Orange paid more than the minimum bid price of SFr50 million, forking out SFr55 million for a licence whose equivalent…

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