Swiss Politics

Handraising assigned to history books

This content was published on Dec 13, 2013 The last vote to be decided by the number of hands raised was on financing for the Gotthard and Lötschberg tunnels. From next year the number of votes for and against will be recorded automatically as the senators press buttons on voting devices, instead of being tallied up by a vote counter. The decision taken…

Swiss Politics

Swiss keep South Africa archives locked away

This content was published on Dec 13, 2013 Switzerland condemned the Pretoria regime in 1968, introduced an arms embargo in 1963 and limited investment in South Africa in 1974, but private business continued to prosper there until the end of the 1980s. “Shameful! Censoring the truth is dishonourable and anti-democratic.” Social Democrat senator Paul Rechsteiner was not mincing his words over the cabinet’s…

Swiss Politics

‘US is no bully’ says judge in Swiss bank case

This content was published on Dec 12, 2013 In March, Judge Jed Rakoff ordered the bank to pay a fine of $74 million (CHF65.5 million) for helping US citizens to dodge taxes. Wegelin had virtually ceased operations a year earlier when it sold its non-US business to the Raiffeisen group for CHF560 million. While the bank itself has felt the full weight of…

Swiss Politics

Hefty charges for transferring money abroad

This content was published on Dec 12, 2013 In 2013, migrants around the world sent $410 billion (CHF363 billion) back to developing countries. According to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that’s four times more than ten years ago. With transfers totalling about $20 billion a year, Switzerland lies third in the world rankings behind the US ($48.3 billion) and…

Swiss Politics

French inheritance tax convention rejected

This content was published on Dec 12, 2013 A clear majority rejected the accord, under which inheritances would be taxed based on where the recipient resides not where the deceased person lived, as used to be the case. While the Senate still has to determine its position, it seems likely that parliament’s other chamber will also give the deal short shrift when its…

Swiss Politics

Does society need quotas?

This content was published on Dec 11, 2013 Whether it is women in the highest spheres of business or in politics, or representing ethnic or linguistic minorities, quotas can rarely be enforced without having both positive and negative consequences. In his recent work Dialogue on quotas: rethinking representation in a multicultural democracy, Nenad Stojanovic makes the case for flexible solutions. swissinfo.ch: In Switzerland…

War report seeks clarity over legal rules

This content was published on Dec 10, 2013 Syria saw the highest number of casualties with 55,000 people killed. The next highest casualty numbers were 9,000 in Mexico and 7,500 in Afghanistan, the War Report, the first comprehensive global analysis of armed conflicts under international law, revealed. The annual report was launched on Tuesday by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and…

Swiss Politics

Free trade trumps human rights in China deal

This content was published on Dec 10, 2013 More than two-thirds of the parliamentarians present in Bern on Tuesday voted in favour of ratifying the deal after debating its pros and cons. The Senate is expected to debate the FTA in March. Most of the discussions focused on whether the government should return to the negotiating table to demand further protocols setting out…

Swiss Politics

OECD seeks inspiration from FATCA model

This content was published on Dec 9, 2013 The new system will probably by based on US anti-tax evasion legislation known as FATCA – the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, according to Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. Saint-Amans spoke to swissinfo.ch about the plans to introduce automatic exchange of tax information which the OECD intends to…

Swiss Politics

Spying investigation needs ‘real information’

This content was published on Dec 8, 2013 “In relation to Edward Snowden it will be very difficult to obtain information from Russia,” Lauber told the Zentralschweiz am Sonntag newspaper. “Without real information, I cannot do very much.” The cabinet approved a request on Friday from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office to open criminal proceedings into alleged spying on Swiss soil by foreign secret…

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