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US issues new bank data deadline

This content was published on Sep 4, 2011 Two Sunday newspapers reported that a letter from US Deputy Attorney General James Cole demanded a “significant” number of client accounts be handed over by Tuesday, otherwise Credit Suisse and nine smaller Swiss banks would face charges. Contents of the letter, sent on August 31, were published in the SonntagsZeitung and NZZ am Sonntag. If…

Geographical oddity squeezed by strong franc

This content was published on Sep 4, 2011 This leafy village of 1,400 on the banks of the River Rhine is enjoying a late-summer’s afternoon. A group of day-trippers are sitting by the open-air pool. Sausages, bread and beer – all from Switzerland – are ordered in Swiss German and paid for with francs. Yet for the residents of Büsingen, which belongs to…

Credit Suisse sued over risky US investments

This content was published on Sep 3, 2011 Lawsuits were filed on Friday by the US Federal Housing Finance Agency against the firms for selling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities that turned toxic when the housing market collapsed. Among those targeted by the lawsuits were America’s biggest banks and several European banks. Credit Suisse was being sued…

Solar cookers to save Madagascar’s forests

This content was published on Sep 3, 2011 One Swiss organisation is trying to turn the tide, backing the production of solar cookers as a more eco-friendly alternative to the combustion stoves used by much of the population. All along the 1,000 kilometres of the road leading from the capital Antanarivo to Tuléar, the main town in the southwest, the landscape is barren…

Job market sound in second quarter

This content was published on Sep 2, 2011 The Federal Statistical Office said the increase was in both the secondary (industry) and tertiary (services) sectors. It said the trend is expected to continue in the third quarter. In total, the number of full-time employees rose by about 30,000 to 2.77 million. At the end of the second quarter, there were 56,300 open positions,…

Swiss nuclear future could hinge on thorium

This content was published on Sep 1, 2011 A new generation of reactors could be fuelled by thorium, seen by its supporters as safer and producing less of a waste problem. The disaster at the Japanese nuclear plant at Fukushima earlier this year prompted heart-searching in Switzerland and the government announced in May that it planned to phase out all nuclear power generation…

Top science prize goes to molecular dynamics

This content was published on Sep 1, 2011 Michele Parrinello, who holds posts at both the University of Italian-speaking Switzerland and at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, will be presented with the Marcel Benoist prize on November 28. Molecular dynamics is the computer simulation of the physical movements of atoms and molecules. Parrinello’s work has applications in a many areas of physics,…

Butchers beef about meat tourists

This content was published on Sep 1, 2011 The Swiss franc, which has gained about 25 per cent in value against the euro over the past four years, is leading to an increase in shopping tourism, said the association’s director, Ruedi Hadorn, on Thursday. One study quoted found that in 2009 around SFr600 million ($750 million) worth of meat was bought abroad. This…

Economic growth slows as franc takes toll

This content was published on Sep 1, 2011 The figures, published on Thursday, matched economists’ forecasts. Private consumption in the second quarter increased 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Meanwhile, investment dropped two per cent. Annually, gross domestic product grew 2.3 per cent. This was also in line with economists’ expectations. Experts say concerns continue over the strong Swiss franc, which could threaten to cripple…

Zermatt protects priceless Matterhorn brand

This content was published on Sep 1, 2011 As American adventurer John Harlin reached the flanks of the mythical 4,478-metre Matterhorn as part of his Swiss border adventure, swissinfo.ch takes a look at the mountain’s amazing pulling power and economic significance. On the edge of the resort, groups of awestruck visitors stare at the pyramid-shaped colossus that rises in the distance above picture-postcard…

Internal: Archive

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Internal: Archive

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US issues new bank data deadline

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Geographical oddity squeezed by strong franc

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Credit Suisse sued over risky US investments

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Solar cookers to save Madagascar’s forests

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Job market sound in second quarter

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Swiss nuclear future could hinge on thorium

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Top science prize goes to molecular dynamics

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Butchers beef about meat tourists

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Economic growth slows as franc takes toll

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Zermatt protects priceless Matterhorn brand

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