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Banking secrecy non-negotiable, says minister

This content was published on Jun 27, 2000 Couchepin made the statement after attending a meeting of ministers from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which groups the world’s industrialised nations. The meeting covered a range of issues, but banking secrecy was by far the most sensitive for the Swiss. The position that banking secrecy is not up for discussion had already…

Nestlé silent as food giants make their move

This content was published on Jun 27, 2000 The acquisition of Nabisco will enable Philip Morris to retain its position as the world’s second largest food company after the Swiss giant, Nestlé. The agreement comes amid a wave of food industry consolidation. Nestlé, when contacted by swissinfo, declined to make any comment on a deal done by its competitors. Experts are paying close…

Planned Expo scores low marks on environmental impact

This content was published on Jun 26, 2000 The exhibition – Expo.02 – is due to take place around the lakes of Biel, Neuchâtel and Murten. In its third independent report on environmental controlling, the Aquarius company of Neuchâtel says there is a need for a rapid solution to the issue of pricing policy. “The fixing of fees which are really attractive and…

OECD names and shames tax havens

This content was published on Jun 26, 2000 Nearly three dozen off-shore centres were named, including Liechtenstein, which has a customs and currency union with Switzerland. The report will serve as a warning and give those identified one year to change their policies. Last week, an international report by the G7’s Financial Action Task Force listed 15 countries for failing to deal sufficiently…

Globalisation at heart of UN poverty summit in Geneva

This content was published on Jun 26, 2000 In 1995, the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen ended with United Nations member states promising to tackle poverty, unemployment and social exclusion. While not legally binding, it was felt the Copenhagen commitments carried a strong moral and political weight, especially as there was such a strong global consensus. Now, the UN General Assembly…

Couchepin to raise social issues at OECD meeting

This content was published on Jun 26, 2000 Among the issues likely to be raised at the two-day meeting, starting today, is tax evasion, and attempts by the European Union to combat money-laundering. To coincide with the meeting, the OECD is expected to publish a list of tax-havens in an increasingly hard-hitting drive to clamp down on big banking centres which thrive off…

Swiss travellers hit by French strike

This content was published on Jun 26, 2000 But the strike will also affect other departures from Zurich, Basel and Geneva as many of them will have to be routed around France to other European countries. The strike is scheduled to end at eight o’clock on Tuesday morning. More than 120 Swissair flights scheduled to operate Monday have been cancelled, this includes 64…

Half of Switzerland prepared to sacrifice holy cow of banking secrecy

This content was published on Jun 25, 2000 The survey was conducted in the French-language Sunday newspaper, dimanche.ch. However it also showed four out of ten people wanted to keep banking secrecy, while 51 per cent said Switzerland’s success as a financial centre was due to banking secrecy as opposed to the competence of Swiss banks. Only nine per cent though considered it…

Opponents of globalisation use UN summit to air grievances

This content was published on Jun 25, 2000 After a series of workshops on Thursday and Friday, at least 700 delegates from all over the world – from landless Brazilian peasants to South Korean trade unionists – will hold a plenary session in the University Mail building on Saturday, followed by a march to the United Nations on Sunday. “The main purpose of…

Couchepin to raise social issues at OECD meeting

This content was published on Jun 25, 2000 Among the issues likely to be raised at the two-day meeting, starting on Monday, is tax evasion, and attempts by the European Union to combat money-laundering. The meeting is being held five days after an international report listed 15 countries for failing to deal sufficiently with money-laundering. Switzerland, which maintains tight banking secrecy regulations, was…

Cluster: Archive

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