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Banks scramble to meet regulators’s requirements

This content was published on Dec 19, 2012 In June of this year, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) chided both banks for acting too slowly in adopting the so-called “Swiss finish” regulations, which require them to set aside far greater capital reserves than the international standard by 2019. Despite praising the banks’ response in December, the SNB warned that risks remain high. Following…

Banks chart course in stormy waters

This content was published on Dec 19, 2012 Both banks are walking a tightrope, with a regulatory abyss on one side and the yawning chasm of missed opportunity and lost profits on the other. Shareholders, competitors and sharp-eyed regulators circle overhead, waiting to pounce on any mistake. From the mid-1990s, the dominant rivals progressively converged on a similar strategy that drained capital away…

German gummy bear defeats Swiss teddy

This content was published on Dec 18, 2012 Cologne’s regional court ruled in favour of Germany’s Haribo on Tuesday, saying that Switzerland’s Lindt & Sprüngli had violated its trademark on the “Goldbär” or “Gold Bear” gummy bear name. It banned the further sale of Lindt’s gold-foil wrapped chocolate bear. The court said even though the Lindt product was officially called the “Lindt Teddy”,…

SFr39.5 million to be returned to Angola

This content was published on Dec 17, 2012 On Monday, the foreign ministry announced Secretary of State Yves Rossier and his Angolan counterpart Carlos Alberto Fonseca had signed a corresponding agreement. The backdrop to the restitution are judicial proceedings in Geneva regarding alleged money laundering, which at the end of 2008 led to the confiscation of the assets now to be returned. According…

Local Christmas tree producers struggle

This content was published on Dec 17, 2012 Around one million Christmas trees are sold in Switzerland every year, most of them imported. According to IG Suisse Christbaum, the national producers’ association, consumers would prefer to buy local. But domestic producers are unable to jump into the breach. Most trees take seven to eight years to grow to the right size before they…

New dinosaur bears Swiss researcher’s name

This content was published on Dec 16, 2012 The dinosaur, newly named “small Diplodocus of Siber“ or Kaatedocus siberi, is a member of the long-necked, plant-eating sauropod family. Other well-known sauropods include the brachiosaurus and the apatosaurus, once known as the brontosaurus. With 14 perfectly preserved vertebrae, the new specimen’s neck is reportedly the most intact of its kind in the world and…

Government predicts moderate growth in 2013

This content was published on Dec 13, 2012 The figures released by the federal government’s Expert Group on Thursday were slightly more tempered than figures released three months earlier, when growth of 1.4 per cent was projected. Deteriorating global economic conditions – and in particular the weak financial situation in the eurozone – were cited as the reason for the slowdown in Switzerland’s…

Syria – a country in disintegration

This content was published on Dec 13, 2012 The uprising spread from there to other Arab countries. After the fall of Tunisian ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had to resign, Moammar Gaddafi was killed in Libya and Yemen ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh was displaced. Nor could Syria escape the uprising of its people. But the regime of President Bashar…

German-Swiss tax deal sinks at last-ditch meeting

This content was published on Dec 12, 2012 A mediation committee met on Wednesday to seek a compromise that would have allowed the accord aimed at legalising undeclared assets held by Germans in Swiss banks to take effect next month. Late in November, the centre-left German Social Democrats and Greens effectively blocked the deal by voting against the agreement in the Senate where…

Firms anticipate fundamental changes

This content was published on Dec 12, 2012 The survey, published on Wednesday, found that around ten per cent of the 112 firms questioned expected a “negative or very negative business development” within the next 12 months. The changing business environment was also expected to have an effect on profits, with 77 per cent of respondents believing returns will go down. To counter…

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Banks scramble to meet regulators’s requirements

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Banks chart course in stormy waters

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German gummy bear defeats Swiss teddy

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SFr39.5 million to be returned to Angola

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Local Christmas tree producers struggle

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New dinosaur bears Swiss researcher’s name

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Government predicts moderate growth in 2013

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Syria – a country in disintegration

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German-Swiss tax deal sinks at last-ditch meeting

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Firms anticipate fundamental changes

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