ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Xamax, the Neuchatel football team, lost its license Wednesday 18 January, the latest in a string of major distractions off the field, for the team and Swiss football fans. Controversial club owner Bulat Chagaev has five days to appeal and show that the club is financially sound.
TSR, Swiss public television, Wednesday evening carried a series of reactions to the club’s bump from the Super League as the result of the move by the Swiss Football Association.
The license was taken away after a string of financial incidents, from unpaid supplier bills to unpaid social security bills and alleged fake statements showing that the Chechen owner has $35 milion with which to back the club.
Fox Sports reports that the license loss has prompted an ownership group to prepare “to save the publicly humiliated club from an apparently inevitable demotion of at least two divisions, and possible bankruptcy under its current Chechen owners.” TSR, Swiss public television, reports Wednesday night that
Swiss football has been suffering in recent weeks from other off-the-field fights, with Sion being fined 36 points by the Swiss Football Association, a move the club has hotly contested.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Bicycle owners in Switzerland will say farewell at the end of the year to the CHF5 tax and stickers on their bikes, the Federal Council confirmed 13 October.
The tax, in reality a form of third party insurance, will no longer be necessary as of 1 January 2012, but the insurance coverage from 2011 licenses is valid until 31 May 2012.
The system is being phased out to allow private RC (responsabilité civile) insurance to provide third party coverage. Most Swiss have RC coverage but Bern says a campaign will start soon to make those without it aware of the risks they run.
Details, GenevaLunch 23 May 2011
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Google’s license to operate in mainland China has been renewed for a year. The company has lost market share since it started re-directing traffic to its Hong Kong operations after it was unable to resolve its spat with the Chinese government over censorship. The Chinese license nevertheless allows it to pick up advertising from Chinese companies keen to reach the world outside China.
PC Magazine reports that Google now has just over 18 percent of the search market in China, compared to Baidu’s more than 75 percent.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, PC Magazine
Yves Robert-Charrue. Bank Julius Baer
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Bank Julius Baer has been awarded a license for $100 million for a China fund, six months after it received a Hong Kong license, giving Switzerland’s largest private bank a stronger foothold in the Asian market, Reuters reports Monday 23 May. “The QFII quota, granted by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), China’s currency regulator, would allow Julius Baer to buy Chinese stocks and bonds under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme,” according to the news agency.
The QFII quota was awarded seven months after the bank became the 147th bank to be licensed by Hong Kong‘s monetary authority, in October 2010, four years after setting up a representative office in Hong Kong, which then became a full branch late in 2010.
China said in April that it had approved 109 QFII licenses, according to the Wall St Journal.
The bank now considers Asia its second base, and it has said it hopes to open a Shanghai representative office this year.
New CEO for Switzerland named Friday
Yves Robert-Charrue was named chief executive of the bank’s new Region Switzerland Friday 20 May. The single market region will allow to be “the alternative for Swiss-domiciled clients seeking a first-class private banking relationship,” according to Group CEO Boris Collodi.
The 37-year-old Robert-Charrue has, since 2010, been head of the Investment Solutions Group and a member of the executive board.
Wood chips may not be the best alternative for bikers
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss parliament is considering abolishing the annual CHF5-10 bicycle tax/license, which provides third party insurance coverage for riders, reports 20 Minutes (Fre). The administrative costs of the license, which is obligatory in Switzerland, outstrip the revenue, argue centre- and right-wing parties, while the Socialists say the 10 percent of the population that does not have third-party insurance is the poorest, and this would leave them more unprotected. Some lawmakers have argued in favour of keeping the tax, saying the stickers help police identify stolen bicycles.
Geneva alone had more than 3,000 bicycles stolen in 2009, and the recovery rate is low, recently published police figures indicate.
A pilot who has been flying for 10 years without a commercial license was removed from a plane in Amsterdam shortly before it was scheduled to fly to Ankara, Turkey with 101 passengers, AP/NPR and Dutch News report. The man, who is Swedish and was living in Milan, had reportedly once had a commercial license, but that did not allow him to carry passengers, and in any event the license had expired. He was working for Corendon Airlines, which cooperated with the police.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government is offering a hand to dog owners who need to find trainers for themselves and their pets, by listing online at www.monanimaljenprendssoin.ch some 400 qualified trainers, listed by region. A new law that went into effect in September 2008 requires future dog owners to pass theory and practical courses, under approved trainers. A transition period gives owners until 2010 to complete their training. The law affects anyone who has bought a dog since 1 September 2008.
