Internal: Archive

Minimum wages aren’t always bad for the economy

This content was published on Apr 24, 2014 Swiss workers could receive the world’s highest minimum wage if voters accept on May 18 a proposal, that, while revolutionary for Switzerland, has already been introduced in many countries. Patrick Belser, a wage specialist at the International Labour Organization, says it carries a minimal cost if applied properly. The proposed minimum wage would be regularly…

Minimum wage grilled by catering industry

This content was published on Apr 23, 2014 Calling for the initiative to be “soundly rejected”, GastroSuisse’s vice-president Ernst Bachmann said a minimum wage fixed by the state would weaken Switzerland’s competitiveness even further and would be a return to a “salary diktat”. “We pay the wages that our profits enable us to pay,” he said at the organisation’s annual press conference in…

Sponge trick helps dolphins find food

This content was published on Apr 23, 2014 Tool use – sometimes seen among primates and birds – is rare in the animal kingdom. It has been proposed as a significant driver of human evolution. The dolphins’ sponging technique was thought to be aimed at catching bottom-dwelling fish that are hard to detect by the dolphins’ sonar. However, evidence of whether this foraging…

GSK finds formula for growth with Novartis deal

This content was published on Apr 23, 2014 It followed the launch of a $50bn (CHF44bn) bid by Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Bill Ackman, the activist investor, for Allergan, the maker of Botox anti-wrinkle treatments, and revelations that Pfizer had made a tentative $100bn approach for AstraZeneca. In part, the dealmaking reflects renewed bullishness in the sector as drugmakers begin to eye new growth…

Immigration vote leaves foreigners mired in confusion

This content was published on Apr 23, 2014 “I’ve worked in Belgium, Ireland and Cyprus before here and all that is the result of the EU, so for me it’s ironic to be for the first time in the middle of Europe and not be part of it, and now get the message that we are not even sure we can stay,” declared…

Swiss tax authority contacts US clients

This content was published on Apr 22, 2014 The letter describes the steps involved in a possible administrative assistance procedure under the FATCA agreement. Swiss banks are supposed to ask their customers to consent to having their account information sent to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – the American tax authority. If they say “no” or fail to respond, then their accounts will…

‘Fat cat’ pay sees evolution, not revolution

This content was published on Apr 22, 2014 “I do not expect to see a huge impact on corporate pay strategies in Switzerland. At best it will rein in the outliers of excessive executive compensation, but it will have relatively little impact on the average company,” Florian Wettstein, professor of business ethics at the University of St Gallen, told swissinfo.ch. But it would…

Nestlé becomes global top three consumer company

This content was published on Apr 22, 2014 The seventh annual Global Powers of Consumer Products report, which ranks consumer products companies by their 2012 sales, puts Samsung of South Korea first, followed by Apple of the United States. Both companies benefited as demand for electronic products rebounded. Deloitte also said it expects merger and acquisition transactions to pick up in 2014 as…

‘We’re not going to pull a rabbit out of a hat’

This content was published on Apr 21, 2014 Frédéric Riehl, deputy director of the Federal Communication Office, is one of three Swiss negotiators taking part in NETmundial from April 23-24 in São Paolo, Brazil. Around 800 participants were expected. The draft agreement for NETmundial has already been prepared based on contributions from a multi-stakeholder committee of governments, NGOs and the private sector. The…

Brady Dougan reassures sceptics in interview

This content was published on Apr 19, 2014 Dougan said he was confident that once Switzerland’s second-largest bank had finished addressing the problems related to the tax dispute with the US, the bank would generate significant capital with its business model. Credit Suisse is one of more than a dozen Swiss banks being investigated by the US Department of Justice for helping American…

Internal: Archive

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

Internal: Archive

More

Minimum wages aren’t always bad for the economy

More

Minimum wage grilled by catering industry

More

Sponge trick helps dolphins find food

More

GSK finds formula for growth with Novartis deal

More

Immigration vote leaves foreigners mired in confusion

More

Swiss tax authority contacts US clients

More

‘Fat cat’ pay sees evolution, not revolution

More

Nestlé becomes global top three consumer company

More

‘We’re not going to pull a rabbit out of a hat’

More

Brady Dougan reassures sceptics in interview

Popular Stories

Most Discussed