Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Federal Council, concerned about changes to the G20 group of the world’s largest economies and calls for changes to other international financial bodies, has told the country’s finance ministry to take steps to strengthen Switzerland’s role in the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank. Developing countries and emerging markets have been calling for reform of these two bodies, the two Bretton Woods international financial institutions, in recent months, suggesting that voting weights need to be reconsidered. Switzerland is keen to ensure that its seats on the Executive Councils of each group become permanent.
The cabinet (Federal Council) has also instructed the finance ministry to work closely with the Swiss National Bank and the Swiss financial market supervisory authority Finma to strengthen its role in the Financial Stability Board (FSB).
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland will lead efforts to backup a major conference that opens 29 November in Colombia, the Cartagena summit on a mine-free world. The conference marks the 10th anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty entering into force and provides the opportunity for its second review conference to assess progress and how well the convention is being respected.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland registered 2,567 cases of dogs biting humans in 2008, a number that was very close to that for 2007, records published 15 October show. More than 200 varieties of dogs were involved in the incidents. Children are more frequently targets than adults and have the most serious injuries because dogs tend to bite them on the head and neck. CHildren were attacked in the dog’s home in 43 percent of cases and in public areas in 51 percent of cases. Doctors, veterinarians and cantonal officials have been obliged to report dog biting incidents since 2006.
More Swiss media cuts on the way
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Edipresse, the largest media company in French-speaking Switzerland, announced Friday 9 October that it will cut nearly 10 percent of its workforce: 100 jobs, with half in its print units, some 30 journalists’ positions and the rest in production. The company has 1,124 full-time equivalent positions in Switzerland. Half of its approximately 3,000 employees work outside the country. Details about which jobs are affected will follow later. The group will begin consultations next week with staff representatives: Edipresse Romande (French-speaking area) has collective agreements with staff, although it has not had such agreements in German-speaking areas in the country.
The latest round of job cuts is due largely to a 25 percent drop in advertising since 2008, with “no improvement in sight”, the company says.
Update 21:12 Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss voters went to the polls Sunday morning to decide two federal issues and a host of cantonal ones. Geneva, in a municipal vote, approved the extension of the World Trade Organization. Vaud voted down a project to combine its cantonal and municipal police forces and Lausanne refused a city project to create two stadiums instead of the one that is part of the Metamorphose urban renewal project. The Swiss said yes in a country-wide vote on increasing the value-added tax temporarily in order to reduce the debt of the federal disability insurance (AI) programme.
Other results, with 90 percent of the vote in: Geneva has said yes to all six items on the ballot, including a smoking ban, a tax on heavy CO2-emitting cars, and lowering taxes.
Vaud has refused to combine its two police forces, but voters have approved the non-stop school day, meaning children can take lunch at school.
Background: Geneva votes on WTO extension, Lower taxes, single police force, no smoking, for cantonal votes, Swiss to vote on sales tax increase
Details, TSR, Fre
Swiss soldiers, part of the weekend commando operation, near the A9 autoroute, Chablais
Taking the fast road down from the high alps: Swiss cows near Crans-Montana
Lausanne/Sion, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland did its best to live up to clichéd images this weekend.
Swiss soldiers were running around in the mountains as part of commando exercises with soldiers from other European countries, the cows came down from their summer pastures in the high alps in many areas – sometimes with garlands and festivities – and families headed for their vineyards in Valais to pick grapes. Valais, the largest wine-producing canton, has 26,000 grape growers, the majority of which are not commercial winemakers.
Indian summer weather graced the activities in many parts of western Switzerland Saturday.
Click on images to view larger
Bern, Switzerland/New York, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) – Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz and Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi met in New York on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, to discuss the fate of the two Swiss businessmen who have been detained in Libya since July 2008. Qadaffi, the Swiss foriegn affairs ministry says in a Thursday noon, 24 September press release, is taking up their cause himself: “The Leader of the Revolution assured President Merz that he would commit himself personally to bringing about their release.”
The men were widely understood in Switzerland to be able to return to the country by the end of August 2009, but Libya has to date not released them, claiming administrative delays.
Libya Wednesday 23 September dropped its civil case against Geneva, pending the outcome of a three-person international arbitration tribunal. The tribunal is reviewing charges by Libya related to the arrest of Hannibal Qadaffi and his wife Aline in July 2008, at a hotel in Geneva.
Commandos on Swiss Raid. © 2009 Swiss Raid Commando
Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Elite commandos from 19 countries and Switzerland will test their military skills against each other and against the elements in the 2009 edition of Swiss Raid Commando, starting today 24 September in the Chablais region of Valais, Vaud and Haute Savoie, neigbouring France. In all, 80 four-person troops (there is one all-woman troop), each led by an officer or non-commissioned officer, compete in tests of physical prowess, technical abilities and mastery of tactics.
Title: Expat Expo 2009
Location: Geneva, Palexpo
Link out: Click here
Description: Annual indoor information fair with 180 exhibitors, for the English-speaking international population: services, products, families welcome!
Start Time: 11:00
Date: 11 Oct 2009
End Time: 17:00
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland is expected to sign a new double taxation agreement with the US Wednesday 23 September, Urs Kapalle of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) told a group in Geneva Tuesday evening. The federal government has indicated the signing could be soon, without specifying a date.
In case of emergency, press button!
Update 23:35 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland is in the process of setting up a tax hotline, primarily for US citizens, to deal with an expected influx of questions once the US and Switzerland both sign the new double taxation agreement, GenevaLunch has been told by a government official. The date for the hotline to open is not yet set, nor are further details available yet.
The Swiss cabinet 11 September gave a green light to two ministries, foreign affairs and finance, to sign the agreement. They are currently working on details, the official says, and while no one can yet say when exactly the agreement will be signed, he would not exclude that this could be in the very near future. [Ed. note: a Swiss Bankers Association senior official said at a meeting in Geneva Tuesday evening that Switzerland is expected to sign the agreement tomoorw, 23 September].
Source: Swiss customs office (click on image to view larger)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Several economic indicators published by the Swiss federal government Tuesday 21 September show an economy still in the doldrums, but with the outlook slightly more optimistic than in August 2009. Exports are down and imports are down by an even larger percentage, the economy is stabilizing but will remain “sluggish” in 2010 and unemployment is high. The good news: while the picture is still gloomy, it’s getting a little brighter.
GDP growth positive, if only slightly, in 2010
The government’s economic advisory “Expert Group” released its latest quarterly projections, which include a “weaker decline” of GDP (gross domestic product), from -2.7 percent expected in June to -1.7 percent forecast now. The group now expects positive GDP growth in 2010 of 0.4 percent rather than the -0.4 percent projected earlier. Private consumption and building investment are holding relatively steady, which is helping Switzerland to have a recession less dramatic than in many countries, although 2009 will go down as the worst year since 1975 for GDP decline.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Quickmail SA, based in St Gallen and specialized in mail order deliveries, has been given a license to deliver letters and packages of 50 grams or larger. It is the fourth company to be awarded a license since the privatization process for La Poste began to allow private deliveries for mail under 100 grams, in July 2009. Switzerland now has 24 private companies making deliveries, but most have licenses only for larger deliveries.
Siberian bear cubs (Photo: RANDO)
Siberian bear cubs, welcomed at Bern's Tierpark (Photo: RANDO)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, arrived in Bern 21 September to military honours and a town that was completely locked down for security reasons. It is the first state visit to Switzerland by a Russian head of state. Medvedev thanked his host, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz, for representing Russia’s interests in its conflict with Georgia, and he suggested that Swiss neutrality might enable Switzerland to act as a go-between to build bridges between Russia and Nato in order to advance Russia’s new vision for security in Europe.
Switzerland’s programme for economic cooperation with Eastern Europe has supported the transition process in the Russian Federation since 1993. The focus has been mainly on building the private sector, sustainable development of natural resources and governance issues such as migration, human trafficking and prison management.
Switzerland has been working with Russia on sustainable forest projects for several years, part of the economic cooperation programme.
Four agreements were signed at the end of the first day of the two-day visit, covering visas, repatriation, aid in cases of disaster, and a memorandum on sport. The two countries have now signed several treaties.
Click on image to view larger (image: Swiss Confederation)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The number of disputes over rents has fallen by more than 8 percent in the past 12 months, the federal government says, based on statistics from courts that handle the disputes. The 16,888 cases in the first six months of 2009 are nevertheless more than in any half-year period since the second half of 2003. A settlement was reached in 47.15 percent of cases. Of these, rent increases were the leading reason for the disputes, followed by leases brought to an end.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland may be preparing to accept some inmates currently held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, following a visit in August to the prison by an interdepartmental team and representatives from some cantons. The visit was confirmed Sunday to Swiss news agency ATS by Guido Balmer, spokesperson for the Ministry for Police and Justice. No further details were provided Sunday, but the confirmation was provided after Sonntags Zeitung published the story.
Related: TSR, Fre
SBA CEO Urs P Roth
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – EU citizens with bank accounts in Switzerland will pay a withholding tax on income from all investments, not just on savings income as at present, if a proposal from the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) goes ahead. The group, at its annual meeting in Zurich 17 September suggested that the money collected would be transferred to the respective countries’ tax authorities without disclosing the name of the bank customer. The SBA proposal would extend withholding tax on EU citizens to include dividend income generated by stocks and mutual funds, as well as capital gains.
Switzerland has levied a withholding tax on its own and EU citizens since 2005, but it covers only income from certain types of investment, principally from bonds.
We're all connected: Swiss economic health depends on the world, says SNB
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLUnch) - The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) is guardedly more optimistic than in June about the outlook for the Swiss economy, it said Thursday afternoon 17 September in its quarterly report, but monetary policy will remain loose in order to stimulate the economy. The central bank revised its GDP (gross domestic product) forecast, saying it expects this to fall by between 1.5 and 2 percent, less steeply than forecast in June (2.5 to 3 percent). The key interest rate range remains unchanged at 0.0-0.75, “still aiming to keep the Libor within the lower end of this range, that is, at approximately 0.25%.” The Libor serves as an indicator of shifts in bank lending rates.
The SNB says it will continue to intervene in currency markets to keep the Swiss franc competitive internationally.
...and then there was one
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Competition Commission has given its blessing to the proposed sale of Edipresse’s Swiss operations to Zurich-based Tamedia on the grounds that competition is not threatened by the takeover. Edipresse, Switzerland’s third-largest media company, is based in Lausanne and its operations in Switzerland are limited to the French-speaking area. Tamedia owns media mostly in the German-speaking part of the country.
The competition authorites say that there is no significant overlap in the market coverage.
Third update 18:15 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The waitress who was shot by a 57-year-old man Tuesday evening in Paquis, died from her wounds, Geneva police have confirmed to GenevaLunch. The man, who is British and lives in Geneva, pulled out a .357 Magnum revolver and shot the 34-year-old waitress from Senegal in the head late Tuesday night 15 September at the Good Times bar, according to 20 Minutes, on the rue de Fribourg in the Paquis district. Police say he was in an advanced state of ebriety.
According to witnesses, there was an argument over the bill. After shooting the waitress the man left, but he was intercepted by police minutes later on the corner of Rue des Alpes and the Rue de Lausanne, still in possession of the gun. He admitted to the crime.
The Geneva cantonal police reports that the man has had a permit to own the gun since 1987 but he does not have a permit to carry a gun. A permit to own gives the holder the right to transport the arm from his home to a shooting stand, unloaded. It is given after a background check. A permit to carry a gun is given to someone who can reasonably justify that he needs to protect himself, and only following a practical and theoretical test. It must be renewed every year, according to the police.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss police and cantonal and federal authorities will be coordinating their investigations more closely with their counterparts abroad as the Swiss government steps up efforts to combat animal rights activists who have been attacking pharmaceutical companies. The government announced that a dozen persons have been banned from entering the country, based on investigations to date, but no details of the attacks were provided. The activists are fighting the use of animals for pharmaceutical research.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Motorists who fail to have a current year autoroute sticker correctly plastered to their cars risk a fine that will rise to CHF200. The upper house of parliament has approved a measure already passed by the lower house, that will increase fines from the current CHF100. The 6 percent of cars that travel on the highways without the sticker cost the government an estimated CHF20 million a year.
No more of this in Vaud's restaurants
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Canton Vaud’s no-smoking law comes into effect today 15 September, and smokers will not be allowed to smoke in public places like restaurants, bars and cafés. Restaurants may install a smoking area, but patrons cannot be served there by staff. GastroVaud, which represents 1,650 of the canton’s eating establishments has said it will analyze the effect of the ban on its members in a year’s time.
Related: 24heures
The chicken could cost a little more after 27 September
Geneva/Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The latest and second poll taken for Swiss television, TSR, two weeks before Swiss voters head for the polls, shows 50 percent ready to say yes to a temporary sales tax increase to finance the deficit of the federal disability insurance programme, the AI. Far fewer, 32 percent, are clearly opposed, but the remaining 18 percent are undecided.
Voters decide 27 September on a 0.4 percent increase to the sales tax from 2011 to 2017. The current rate varies but most items are taxed at a rate of 7.6 percent. Cantons and communes, the two other levels of Swiss government, do not charge sales tax.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Bank deposits in Switzerland up to CHF100,000 will be covered in case the bank gets into trouble, and depositors should be paid within 20 days. The Swiss government proposal foresees a two-tier system: a public guarantee fund with CHF9.75 billion to be funded by the banks in the first tier. Then, should the fund be exhausted, the Swiss government will either pay out the necessary funds or guarantee the difference. In either case, banks will pay a yearly premium towards the additional funding.
The funds could also be used under certain circumstances to ensure essential business continuity for a troubled bank, according to the Swiss Federal Department of Finance (FDF) 14 September.
The current law covering deposits expires in 2010. It was a stop-gap measure introduced in late 2008 because of the banking crisis. The government proposal would make the guarantee permanent. It now goes through the consultative process until 31 December 2009.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana Medvedeva will make a state visit to Switzerland 21-22 September, with a day in Bern and a day touring central Switzerland with Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The UK became the sixth country to sign a new double taxation agreement with Switzerland, Monday 7 September. A total of 14 treaties have been negotiated and initialed, but eight are yet to be signed. The treaties were negotiated after the Swiss government opted to exchange tax information with other countries in line with OECD standards.
Details released
Lausanne/Bex, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A 20-year-old who was knifed in the heart Tuesday 1 September by two youths he didn’t know as he walked through Parc Montbenon in Lausanne, died Saturday of his injuries, Vaud police say. The 15- and 17-year-olds who killed him were caught near the train station shortly after the crime and told a judge they pulled a knife on him because they didn’t like the way he looked at them.
One of them had been charged in the past with attempted murder and spent time in a juvenile detention centre in the Jura, but he escaped in January 2009.
A second violent crime was committed by juveniles in Bex Sunday night, near the Vaud/Valais cantonal line, that sent a police officer to hospital with head, throat and knee injuries.
All four youths are of foreign nationality, from three countries, and none of them have permanent residence status. The crimes come at a time when Switzerland has been debating what to do with foreigners who have not become well integrated into Swiss society and who commit serious crimes.
ProDisc-L (photo ©2009 Synthes)
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Zurich-based Synthes, a medical device company best known as a manufacturer of plates, screws and bolts used in treating trauma injuries such as broken bones, has won a key decision in a district court lawsuit in the US against US-based Medtronic, which has a regional head office in Tolochenaz, Vaud.
Swiss Federal Council and chancellor, 2009
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss Federal Council opened discussions 26 August on government reforms that could include lengthening the term in office for the president of the country and doubling that position with responsibility for foreign affairs. The president currently serves a one-year term: the job rotates among the seven federal councilors who make up the ruling Federal Council (cabinet). The council members are elected by parliament.
