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UBS settles case with US hospital group

This content was published on Apr 26, 2010 The litigation came in the wake of an estimated $2.7 billion accounting fraud at the Alabama-based HealthSouth. UBS insurers will pay $117 million to HealthSouth shareholders and $100 million to bondholders. UK accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP has also agreed to pay a settlement of $33.5 million to the bondholders. According to court documents,…

Why Switzerland’s wealth is all relative

This content was published on Apr 26, 2010 According to a 2006 report issued by the World Bank and entitled “Where is the Wealth of Nations?”, Switzerland is indeed the richest, with theoretical assets of $648,000 (SFr 688, 500) per capita. That was long before the financial crisis that started in 2008, and whose consequences are still being very much felt. A speaker…

Swiss turn down proposal for tax on banks

This content was published on Apr 25, 2010 Hans-Rudolf Merz told journalists that Switzerland’s case of helping a bank in trouble was different from that of other countries which had come to the rescue of their financial institutions. The idea for such a tax has the support of countries that include the United States and Britain. While the IMF maintains that the world…

Trade unions demand stable financial sector

This content was published on Apr 24, 2010 The political left has for decades been demanding tax equality and an end to banking secrecy to prevent people profiting from tax evasion. However, the details of a proposed “clean assets” strategy are far from concrete. Pressure from other countries led the government to decide a year ago that it could do away with the…

SBC to use polls again after minaret debacle

This content was published on Apr 24, 2010 SRG SSR idée suisse, swissinfo.ch’s parent company, and the polling institute gfs.bern said they would take special precautions to avoid the massive miscalculations that predicted a ban on the construction of new minarets would fail by 53 per cent. Instead, the referendum passed in November 2009 with 57 per cent of the vote. An external…

Measles is still a sore spot for the Swiss

This content was published on Apr 24, 2010 As the country takes part in European Immunisation Week, Virginie Masserey, head of the vaccination section at the Federal Health Office, tells swissinfo.ch there are still many misconceptions about the measles jab. A World Health Organization (WHO) initiative that starts on Saturday is highlighting the importance of immunisation against measles, which is highly infectious. Switzerland…

Swiss fall short of ambitious biodiversity goal

This content was published on Apr 23, 2010 Dashing Swiss hopes of a turnaround by this year is a research project led by the Swiss Biodiversity Forum and involving more than 80 scientists and specialists in the field. The main conclusion: biodiversity continues to be under threat and diminishing in Switzerland. Switzerland was one of several European nations to make the commitment at…

Kuoni counts cost of volcano turmoil

This content was published on Apr 23, 2010 Switzerland closed its airspace for several days to protect aircraft from the cloud of volcanic ash spreading across Europe from Iceland. Even after it was reopened on Tuesday, a number of flights still had to be cancelled. The costs will be incorporated into Kuoni’s quarterly figures. Kuoni said almost all its 7,500 clients with a…

Salaries show strong increases in 2009

This content was published on Apr 23, 2010 The increase is the highest recorded in eight years but the statistics office points out that salaries for 2009 were agreed during the previous autumn when the effects of the economic crisis had not fully been felt. The figure in real terms takes into account a negative inflation rate of 0.5 per cent. Commenting on…

Group seeks to curb risks posed by banks

This content was published on Apr 22, 2010 The report published on Thursday establishes broad guidelines to limit risks that banks that are “too big to fail” could pose for the overall Swiss economy. The report has yet to be finalised but the suggestions include regulating a bank’s equity, liquidity, risk allocation and organisational structure. The final report is due out in the…

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UBS settles case with US hospital group

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Why Switzerland’s wealth is all relative

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Swiss turn down proposal for tax on banks

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Trade unions demand stable financial sector

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SBC to use polls again after minaret debacle

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Measles is still a sore spot for the Swiss

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Swiss fall short of ambitious biodiversity goal

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Kuoni counts cost of volcano turmoil

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Salaries show strong increases in 2009

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Group seeks to curb risks posed by banks

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