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Construction workers rally for a better deal

This content was published on Sep 24, 2011 Organisers said 12,000 people had marched through the city centre to a rally on the square outside the parliament building. The demonstration was called by the Unia and Syna trades unions to strengthen their position in negotiations for a nationwide labour contract. The current deal with the Swiss building entrepreneurs’ association expires at the end…

Rogue trade scandal brings down UBS chief

This content was published on Sep 24, 2011 Grübel had been under pressure since it became known on September 15 that a London-based UBS investment bank trader had lost the bank $2.3 billion (SFr2.09 billion). “The board regrets Oswald Grübel’s decision. Oswald Grübel feels that it is his duty to assume responsibility for the recent unauthorised trading incident,” said UBS chairman, Kaspar Villiger,…

Speeding particles puzzle Cern scientists

This content was published on Sep 24, 2011 The findings are such, challenging Albert Einstein himself, that the scientists working out of the Geneva headquarters of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern) have called on colleagues to help confirm or refute their data. In his famous special theory of relativity, Einstein postulated that nothing can travel faster than light, which has a…

Grübel faces UBS board in Singapore

This content was published on Sep 23, 2011 Grübel refused to comment on the meeting in Singapore on Friday. The loss by a London-based UBS investment bank trader has virtually wiped out savings the bank made through extensive job cuts, and hardened attitudes in Switzerland towards risky banking ventures. During the UBS board meeting, top executives at the Swiss bank were expected to…

Credit Suisse chairman on the offensive

This content was published on Sep 22, 2011 In an interview to be published on Friday in Swiss magazine Bilanz, Urs Rhoner said it would be a “false solution” to separate or discontinue the bank’s investment banking activities. In the wake of the UBS rogue trader scandal, some Swiss politicians have called on UBS and Credit Suisse to close their investment banking divisions,…

Particles recorded moving faster than light

This content was published on Sep 22, 2011 If confirmed, the scientists’ findings would challenge one of the fundamental rules of physics, and a key part of Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity which says that nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light. Antonio Ereditato, who works at the particle physics centre of the Geneva-based organisation, said measurements…

UBS rogue trader ordered to stay in custody

This content was published on Sep 22, 2011 The man, 31, is charged with four offences of fraud and false accounting dating back to 2008 and is accused of racking up losses in authorised trades. Presiding magistrate Alison Gowman told the man on Thursday he would remain in custody until a hearing on October 20. The trader, whose lawyer said he was “sorry…

Asian beetle pest turns up in Switzerland

This content was published on Sep 22, 2011 The beetles, which originate from East Asia, have been labelled by Swiss experts “a particularly dangerous pest”. Asian long-horned beetles are not allowed in Switzerland because they attack healthy deciduous trees and in serious cases can cause the trees to die. Affected trees therefore have to be felled, which causes ecological and economic costs, a…

Tax evasion deal signed in Berlin

This content was published on Sep 21, 2011 The accord was signed in Berlin on Wednesday by Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf and her German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble. The accord, which was announced on August 10 and hailed in many quarters in Switzerland as a breakthrough, includes an up-front payment to Germany of SFr2 billion ($2.76 billion) by Swiss banks. The banks’ advance…

Green light given for financial boost to economy

This content was published on Sep 21, 2011 The largest chunk of the SFr870 million ($975 million) package approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday will go to supplement the state unemployment insurance plan. The SFr500 million for unemployment insurance will help cover loss of income suffered by employees whose working hours have been compulsorily reduced. More than SFr200 million will be…

Internal: Archive

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