Michael Ambuehl, Switzerland's State Secretary for International Financial and Tax Matters
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Michael Ambuehl has been named Switzerland’s State Secretary for International Financial and Tax Matters, head of a new secretariat within the Federal Finance Department. Ambuehl is probably best known as the man who negotiated the UBS arrangement with the United States Justice Department in early 2009. The new secretariat “will serve the purpose of reinforcing Switzerland’s international position in financial and tax matters,” the official announcement states.
The new office will be responsible for Switzerland’s interests in the International Monetary Fund and in the Financial Stability Board, and it will “actively participate in international efforts to combat financial crime. Moreover, it will analyze developments in the financial markets in Switzerland and abroad, and will further develop legislation concerning the financial sector.”
Ambuehl is thus charged with overseeing Switzerland’s ambitious project to play a more aggressive role in international finance and tax matters, as it tries to shed a reputation as a tax haven, which the Swiss say is largely a misperception.
Swiss army knives and more, still selling
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The canton of Geneva moved out of its recession and into growth by the second quarter of 2009, six months ahead of the rest of Switzerland, and it now looks set to have a GDP (gross domestic product) of CHF45 million, growth of 0.5-1 percent in 2010, predicts the BCGE (Banque Cantonale de Geneve). The growth is closely linked to Geneva’s strong ties with Asian trading partners, but retail businesses have remained strong throughout the recession, and consumers are expected to lead the way with 3.5 percent growth in this area, followed by services (health, education, government and semi-public business), which account for 20 percent of cantonal GDP.
Banks are expected to show zero growth and therefore have a neutral impact on the canton’s GDP growth figures next year.
Links to other sites: BCGE, Tribune de Geneve
Foreigners at top end out-earn Swiss
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Top managers’ salaries in Switzerland have continued to rise “sharply”, especially in the financial field, since 2006, and the spread between Switzerland’s lowest paid workers and highest increased, a preliminary government statistical report shows. Well-qualified foreign workers and those with long-term C residence permits out-earn their Swiss counterparts while foreigners with lower qualifications and some border workers earn less than Swiss people in comparable jobs.
Salaries, bonuses for insurers, bankers up sharply 2006-2008
The Swiss Statistical Office Tuesday 17 November issued its preliminary report on salaries in 2008. Salaries remained mostly stable, it shows, with the financial sector an exception: salaries and bonuses both rose, with top managers’ salaries increasing 38.8 percent from 2006-2008, compared to an 11.6 percent increase for top managers in all other fields.
Will there be enough money for next season?
Switzerland (Le Temps, Fre) – The world of ski competitions is suddenly feeling the pinch of the global economic downturn and in particular falling sales at ski manufacturers, the sport’s biggest sponsors. The Ski Racing Suppliers (SRS) Association, meeting in Zurich 12 May, called the situation “precarious” for everyone, according to Le Temps, which carries a lengthy article on the financial problems faced by skiers and federations. Rossignol, a major supporter of events and athletes, announced last week that it will cut its athletes’ salaries by 50 percent and support for events by 30 percent, but its cost-cutting measures are being matched or considered by other manufacturers.
The debate raging in Switzerland this week over bonuses UBS might pay employees pales next to the amounts paid out by financial groups in New York in 2008: $18 billion, a report from the state comptroller lists. The New York Times calls it the six largest such payout on record and says it is seen as “outrageous” and raises transparency and governance issues for many “experts, and indeed many ordinary Americans.”
Adolf Merckle, called by the Financial Times one of Germany’s wealthiest people and owner of dozens of companies, apparently committed suicide when he was hit by a train near his Heidelberg area home Monday night. He had reportedly lost several hundred million euros “in trading related to Volkswagen shares” and was in difficult negotiations with banks to save his companies.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Credit Suisse Group is confirming Q3 losses in line with the announcement made on 16 October.
Title: Wealth management seminar
Location: Geneva, Mandarin Oriental hotel
Description: How to make money in volatile markets
Start Time: 18:00
Date: 2008-10-02
