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New stage reached in world’s longest tunnel

This content was published on Mar 23, 2011 The last metres of rock in the west tunnel were pierced five months after the breakthrough in the east tube of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Work now focuses on lining the two single track tunnels, each 57 kilometres long, and installing the infrastructure. The work is already underway in some stretches. AlpTransit Gotthard, the company…

Arts-loving banker Bär bridged divides

This content was published on Mar 23, 2011 The former chairman of Julius Bär bank, who died aged 83 on Monday after a long illness, was a key member of the Volcker Commission that engineered the restitution of dormant accounts to their rightful Jewish owners. Hans J Bär has been described as one of the old school of private bankers who mixed finance…

Oerlikon returns to the black

This content was published on Mar 23, 2011 Releasing its annual results for 2010, the company said it booked a SFr5 million ($5.6 million) profit for the year, compared with a loss of SFr592 million in 2009. Sales increased by 25 per cent to SFr3.6 billion while order intakes doubled to SFr4.52 billion in 2010. “The consistent implementation of our operational and strategic…

Financial regulator says crisis not over

This content was published on Mar 23, 2011 Anne Héritier Lachat, who took on her role at the beginning of the year, also pointed to the sovereign debt crises and the evolution of interest rates as worrying factors. Finma was created just over two years ago with the merger of the Federal Banking Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Control Authority and the Federal Office…

Death of Hans J. Baer announced

This content was published on Mar 22, 2011 For five decades, Hans J. Baer served the initially family-controlled company, Switzerland’s largest dedicated wealth manager, in various positions. He became partner in 1960, was president of the executive board from 1975 to 1993, and finally chairman of the board until his retirement in 1996. Milestones under his leadership, according to a company statement, included…

SNB head says Swiss franc pressures should ease

This content was published on Mar 22, 2011 But Philipp Hildebrand on Tuesday warned rising oil prices, stoked by unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, and concerns over Japan’s disasters could cloud the economic outlook. Addressing reporters in Geneva, the SNB president praised recent efforts by eurozone finance ministers to tackle debt problems in establishing a new bailout mechanism from 2013,…

Finma warns over interest rate rise

This content was published on Mar 22, 2011 A sharp rise in rates could destabilise the whole system, the watchdog said on Tuesday at its annual media conference. A gradual return to average interest rate levels would bring considerable relief to the sector, its chief executive said. Of particular interest at the moment is the issue of interest rate risk for mortgages and…

February sees surprise rise in exports

This content was published on Mar 22, 2011 The rise, which comes despite the strong franc, was driven by exports in the machines and electronics sector (up by 20 per cent) and also by watches ticking nicely (up by 17.8 per cent). Overall, Switzerland ran a merchandise trade surplus of SFr2.5 billion, a figure that has doubled within a year. Imports grew by…

Japan disasters unlikely to hit global economy

This content was published on Mar 22, 2011 The March 11 catastrophe, which killed more than 8,800 people and left more than 12,600 missing, could shave up to 0.5 percentage points from Japan’s economic growth. But the impact on the global economy and Switzerland will be limited, say analysts. The figures were released on Monday as engineers rigged power cables to all six…

Free newspapers increase in popularity

This content was published on Mar 22, 2011 The most read newspaper in 2010 was 20 Minuten which went up 2.7 per cent to 1.35 million readers a day. It’s French-language counterpart, 20 Minutes, saw its numbers drop to 472,000 (-4.6 per cent). Media research company WEMF said on Monday that nine out of ten Swiss aged 14 years and over read newspapers…

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New stage reached in world’s longest tunnel

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Arts-loving banker Bär bridged divides

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Oerlikon returns to the black

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Financial regulator says crisis not over

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Death of Hans J. Baer announced

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SNB head says Swiss franc pressures should ease

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Finma warns over interest rate rise

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February sees surprise rise in exports

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Japan disasters unlikely to hit global economy

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Free newspapers increase in popularity

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