Banking & Fintech

New directives to deal with dormant accounts

This content was published on Jun 30, 2000 They replace a set of directives issued by the Swiss Bankers Association in 1995 at a time when there was a huge debate about dormant accounts dating back to the Second World War era, particularly those belonging to Holocaust victims. The guidelines are aimed at preventing a situation in which the banks have to spend…

Swiss vote scuppers efforts to close two nuclear reprocessing plants

This content was published on Jun 29, 2000 The vote was held by signatories of a convention on protecting marine life. Switzerland joined Britain, France, Germany and Finland in opposing the bid at a meeting of the 15 member states of the Ospar Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. The opposition deprived the proposal of the necessary…

St Gallen keeps on rockin’

This content was published on Jun 29, 2000 A huge deficit faced the festival’s organisers with bankruptcy, but a mixture of budget cuts and financial support from the local business sector have saved the event. And although the number of big names performing there will not as great as in previous years, an attractive programme has been put together, which includes Ziggy (son…

Novartis to transfer 1,250 staff

This content was published on Jun 29, 2000 Negotiations are currently taking place with the French groups Elyo and Videndi for the management of Novartis’s energy procurement and waste disposal operations. Talks are also being held with the Swiss-Swedish technology group ABB and Johnson Controls of the United States to take over Novartis’s technical services operation. In a statement, Novartis said that no…

Scana sells Belgian unit

This content was published on Jun 29, 2000 The shareholders of Scana Noliko International are two groups specialised in the area of risk capital (LRM and NesBic Investment Fund). Management of Scana Noliko will remain the same. No financial details were released on the deal. Scana Noliko manufacturers and distributes vegetables, oven-ready meals and jams, and is number one in its field in…

Rules of globalisation have to change, ILO chief says

This content was published on Jun 29, 2000 Somavia said that the rules of globalisation, currently being discussed at a United Nations summit in Geneva, would need to be changed. “If we want the Social Summit to work, we have to change the policies that have accompanied globalisation,” Somavia said in an exclusive interview with swissinfo. “We have the political capacity to do…

Federal Railways face competition from Italy

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 After approval of the bilateral agreements with the European Union, Switzerland will recognise the licence, says Davide Demicheli from the Swiss federal transport ministry. However, this cannot take place before the bilateral accords come into force. Ferrovie Nord, based in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, now has to apply to the Swiss Transport Ministry…

Moody’s downgrades Swiss Re

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 In a statement from London, Moody’s said that the decision was as much a reflection of company-specific factors as of powerful market forces affecting all industry participants. “The change in outlook reflects mounting evidence that market and shareholder pressures are driving Swiss Re to take a comparatively aggressive stance in capital management, acquisitions and business…

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Basel confident on Roche environmental record

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 Under a new environmental cooperation agreement signed by both parties on Wednesday, the canton is released from absolute control while still retaining ultimate responsibility. The accord regulates what data Roche has to collect and hand over to the authorities, and at what intervals. “More and more firms are in a position to understand the effect…

Construction industry warns recovery must be backed by restructuring

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 The Alliance of Construction Industry Organisations, created by the three groups two years ago, said in Zurich on Wednesday that machinery purchases for the construction sector had increased sharply. Fritz Haldimann, president of the Swiss Construction Industry Group, one of the members of the alliance, said that over the first quarter of the year businesses…

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