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First savings tax instalment may disappoint

This content was published on Mar 31, 2006 Swiss banks must hand the cash over to the federal authorities by the end of March, which will then be distributed to account holders’ home countries under the terms of a Swiss-EU treaty. The treaty, which came into effect on July 1 last year, compels Swiss banks to collect a 15 per cent withholding tax…

Zurich throws the book at Swissair board

This content was published on Mar 31, 2006 The carrier collapsed under a mountain of debt in October 2001, after its planes were grounded worldwide, leaving thousands stranded and resulting in a national humiliation. The entire management board, including former Credit Suisse boss Lukas Mühlemann and industrialist Thomas Schmidheiny, face charges of defrauding creditors, falsifying documents, making false statements about the business and…

Deiss seeks Arab investment opportunities

This content was published on Mar 31, 2006 While both countries are flush with funds and trade ties are healthy, Swiss investors have had little impact on local markets. Economic growth in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait has recently been impressive. Last year, Saudi Arabia – the world’s biggest petrol producer – saw its economy grow by 6.5 per cent, while Kuwait’s gross domestic…

Little movement on biodiversity benefits

This content was published on Mar 30, 2006 The ten-day meeting sought to win a commitment from governments party to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010. The meeting in the Brazilian city of Curitiba discussed such comprehensive issues as promoting sustainable use of biodiversity, protecting traditional knowledge, ensuring the equitable sharing of benefits from…

Basel shows off luxury to the world

This content was published on Mar 30, 2006 The Swiss watch industry will be particularly keen to put in another record performance after posting exports totalling more than SFr12 billion ($9.16 billion) in 2005. But there was also a warning on the sidelines of this year’s glamorous Baselworld event that the sparkle of gemstones comes at a high human price in the developing…

Absinthe bootleggers refuse to go straight

This content was published on Mar 29, 2006 The Swiss Alcohol Board (SAB) made a number of busts over the winter but says tracking the illegal stills remains tough. The sale and production of absinthe has been legal in Switzerland since March 1 last year and figures released by the SAB this week show that the “Green Fairy” has taken wing. Almost 130,000…

Swisscom report shows extent of splits over sale

This content was published on Mar 29, 2006 The commission strongly criticised the cabinet saying the decision was badly prepared and went against its own rules. The centre-right Radical Party said the report by a committee of the House of Representatives was one-sided and gave more ammunition to opponents of privatisation. In a similar vein the rightwing Swiss People’s Party rejected the report,…

Swiss Life looks to grow organically

This content was published on Mar 28, 2006 Dörig also announced organic growth expectations of eight per cent in Switzerland and 23 per cent abroad in the next three years as the firm posted record profits for 2005. However, he does not rule out using large cash reserves to make modest acquisitions. Alongside Dörig, swissinfo asked Paul Müller, CEO of the company’s Swiss…

Unions try again for flexible retirement

This content was published on Mar 28, 2006 More than 107,000 signatures were collected in nine months for the initiative, which when verified, will result in another nationwide vote on the pensions issue. The electorate turned down two previous initiatives in November 2000, mainly over fears of spiralling costs. The French-speaking part of the country and canton Bern each provided a quarter of…

Organic farms decline in number

This content was published on Mar 28, 2006 The group, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, says that organic farming has not been spared from agricultural changes but the Swiss are still champions when it comes to buying organic produce. At a news conference on Tuesday in the capital, Bern, the president of Bio Suisse, Regina Fuhrer said, that there were 6,114 organic…

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