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US offers Swiss banks a deal, says newspaper

This content was published on Dec 18, 2011 The SonntagsZeitung says it has discovered that Michael Ambühl, who heads the Swiss state secretariat for international financial matters, and who has been conducting negotiations with the US authorities for several months, presented representatives of the banks with the deal on Friday. It quotes “one of those involved” as saying each of the 11 banks…

“I’m not happy paying taxes to a corrupt state”

This content was published on Dec 18, 2011 But the middle class is also tightening its belt and putting money aside for an uncertain future. swissinfo.ch spoke to Swiss citizens living in Athens, who are angry, disappointed and sceptical of politicians. “More and more people are sleeping rough – above all illegal immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh. That’s sad,” Lisa Hamuzopulos told swissinfo.ch. “There’s…

Foreign workers squeezed by new Chinese law

This content was published on Dec 17, 2011 Swiss expats and business representatives are by and large unhappy with the situation and have appealed to Bern for help. Forced to pay unemployment insurance? Fair enough. But according to Chinese law, foreigners who lose their job have to leave the country. Medical cover? Great, but that’s only for public hospitals, into which foreigners rarely…

Modified plants found outside laboratories

This content was published on Dec 16, 2011 The Federal Environment Office said on Friday that the plants had been dug up immediately, and there had been no contamination. The plants found near laboratories belonging to the universities of Lausanne, Basel and Zurich were thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), which is often used in studying plant biology, since any changes in it are easily…

Keeping it in the family, Blocher style

This content was published on Dec 16, 2011 As the Tages-Anzeiger pointed out in an editorial on Tuesday: “With the Blochers, Switzerland now has an oligarchy family: complete with a castle, companies, factories and newspapers”. Blocher had always denied any financial involvement “directly or indirectly” in the 2010 purchase of the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) newspaper. This week it was revealed that it was…

UBS client adviser fined in Britain

This content was published on Dec 16, 2011 The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said on Friday that between January 2006 and the end of January 2008 the adviser had helped an Indian client to make investments that violated Indian law, in clear breach of UBS guidelines. He then “wrongfully took steps to conceal the true nature of the customer’s investment, mainly by the…

Fitch cuts rating for Credit Suisse

This content was published on Dec 16, 2011 It said the move came because of the increased challenges facing the banking sector due to weak economic growth and heightened regulations. The ratings firm said on Thursday that it had lowered the ratings for Bank of America Corp., Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, The Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley and Société Générale.…

Ex-Credit Suisse worker sentenced

This content was published on Dec 15, 2011 The information was then passed on to German officials investigating tax evasion. The former employee, who had confessed to the theft, received two years’ probation instead of jail time, and a fine of SFr3,500 ($3,720) for breaching Swiss banking secrecy, the court said on Thursday. His sentencing brings to an end criminal proceedings linked to…

SNB holds franc peg at 1.20 to the euro

This content was published on Dec 15, 2011 The bank, which has been under pressure by manufacturers to increase the peg on the franc to as much as 1.40 against the euro, also held its target interest rate at 0–0.25 per cent. “Even at the current rate, the Swiss franc is still high and should continue to weaken over time,” the bank said…

Competition watchdog fines Nikon

This content was published on Dec 15, 2011 In a statement on Thursday, Comco said Nikon had illegally closed off the Swiss market by inserting clauses into foreign distribution contracts restricting exports to Switzerland. Inversely, the company inserted similar clauses into its Swiss distribution contracts to restrict supply abroad. Between spring 2008 and autumn 2009, Nikon had also exerted pressure over distributors of…

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