Switzerland

Switzerland’s financial regulator is investigating Julius Bär Group over inadequate risk-control structures that contributed to the bank’s exposure to bankrupt property mogul Rene Benko.

The investigation, which began before Benko’s Signa real estate empire began to unravel, was prompted by concerns that Bär’s business and control functions aren’t sufficiently separate, according to people familiar with the matter. ...

The Swiss Solidarity fundraising organisation and several partners collected more than CHF3 million ($3.5 million) for children and young people on a national solidarity day on Thursday. The motto of the collection day was “Education for all”.

The campaign began at 7am. Shortly before 11pm the final total was just under CHF3.4 million, according to Swiss Solidarity. The donations are intended to help provide children and young people with access to high-quality education and training. ...

Well-known Swiss clown Gaston Häni from the Conelli circus died of cancer on Wednesday at the age of 72, as announced by the Zurich Christmas circus on Thursday.

Born in 1951, Gaston and his colleague Roli were an integral part of the Conelli Christmas Circus every winter.

Together with Rolf Knie and the white clown Pipo Sosman, Gaston toured with the Swiss National Circus Knie from 1973 to 1977. In 1976, Gaston was invited to the Circus Festival in Monte Carlo for the first time - and was honoured by the then Prince Rainier of Monaco. ...

The financial centres of Switzerland and Britain moved closer together as Swiss Fiinance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and her British counterpart, Jeremy Hunt, signed an agreement on the mutual recognition of financial services in Bern on Thursday.

The agreement covers the recognition of equivalence in the areas of banking, securities services, insurance, asset management and financial market infrastructures for professional clients, as detailed in a press release issued by the Federal Department of Finance on Thursday. ...

Cancers in people under the age of 50, previously extremely rare, are on the increase. “They have almost doubled,” says Solange Peters, head of medical oncology at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) in western Switzerland. In her view, this is “an alarming sign”.

“In the over-65s, the number of cases is increasing, but this is due to the ageing of the population,” she told 24 heures newspaper on Thursday. ...

A difficult year is coming to an end for Swiss agriculture - a cold spring and summer storms had a negative impact on the cultivation of fruit, vegetables and grain.

Low spring temperatures and capricious weather in summer led to problems with pollination and reduced fruit harvest quantities, especially stone fruit, the Agricultural Information Service (AIF) announced on Thursday. ...

Switzerland’s parliament has finalised the 2024 budget after agreeing to a CHF10 million cut on humanitarian funding.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives and the Senate chambers cleared up the last budget disagreements. The last sticking point was whether to retain or cut Swiss funding for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). ...

One of Switzerland’s top universities was wrong to sideline a male-only student association, according to a Federal Administrative Court ruling.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) was ordered by the court to recognise the Zofingia fraternity, which traces its roots back to 1819. The court ruled that freedom of association takes precedence over equality in this case.

Drinking, singing, fencing – these are probably the common images that people associate with a fraternity. At Zofingia, a student association spread throughout Switzerland, there is no longer any fighting, but in other respects the association has remained traditional: women are not allowed. ...

Alain Berset, who held the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has defended his very last issue. “Mr Covid”, as he was described by the president of the Senate Eva Herzog, is retiring from politics after 20 years in office, 12 of which were spent in government as interior minister.

On Thursday the native of Fribourg looked back on these two decades, saying that “a lot of things didn’t work out, that’s part of political life”. But even in the most difficult moments, “I have learnt like never before”. ...

Flights by private and business jets weighing 5.7 tonnes or more will not be taxed in Switzerland. By 108 votes to 87, the House of Representatives refused to introduce this new tax into the CO2 Law – to the dismay of the political left and the Centre Party.

The tax would amount to between CHF500 ($580) and CHF3,000 per flight, which would be allocated to climate protection measures, explained Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini from the Green Party on behalf of the committee. The aim is to ensure that additional financial resources are available to meet the ambitious targets.

Switzerland is again supporting the suffering population in Ukraine this winter and is increasing its contribution by CHF11.8 million ($13.7 million). The hardship in Ukraine is a consequence of the military invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In total, the Swiss government is spending around CHF26 million on winter aid measures, the foreign ministry announced on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the government is supporting several non-governmental organisations in providing life-saving protection as part of winter aid. For example, it has enabled repairs to almost 1,000 flats and houses and the distribution of heating material to around 1,300 households in frontline areas.

The Swiss Senate took steps on Wednesday towards banning the use of racist symbols that excuse violent or extremist behaviour, including speech, gestures and the display of flags that stir hatred, as well as the public wearing of symbols reminiscent of Nazi tyranny in Europe.

The Senate voted 23-16, with three abstentions, on a proposal that aims to criminalise displays of such symbols and gestures in the public space. Lawmakers said they still need to flesh out just how far the legislation would go.

The chances of reaching an agreement on a new bilateral package with Brussels are "real and good", according to Alexandre Fasel, Switzerland's state secretary in charge of the European Union dossier.

The success of negotiations in Switzerland between the social partners will be decisive for the success of the Swiss-EU dossier, he noted.

Switzerland will only achieve success on foreign policy when it can reach agreement internally, said Fasel, who was appointed on September 1 to take over from Livia Leu. ...

The Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), now in the black according to its president Mirjana Spoljaric, will cut a total of 4,000 jobs this year and next.

Cuts have had to be made in some missions, while several countries, including Switzerland, have stepped up their support.

“In view of the improved financial situation, I’m sleeping better now,” Spoljaric said in an interview published in Le Temps on Wednesday. The financial situation had now “stabilised”. ...

The delivery of Israeli drones to the Swiss Air Force has been delayed again. Scheduled for the end of 2024, they should arrive at the end of 2026, it was announced on Wednesday. The delay has been caused by the current situation in the Middle East and technical problems.

As compensation, the Israeli manufacturer, Elbit Systems, must provide Switzerland with an additional support package and extend the warranty period for the drones by two years. Elbit has also provided performance guarantees, covered by significant penalties in the event of non-compliance, the Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse) announced in a press release on Wednesday. ...

Switzerland must reduce at least three-quarters of its carbon emissions in the Alpine country, the House of Representatives agreed on Wednesday.

The objective of a 75% reduction of carbon emissions already appears in the current CO2 law, with the remaining percentage to be reduced abroad. But the Swiss government had not formulated a figure in its proposal for the revised CO2 law for 2025-2030. “There will be the possibility of doing this in the ordinance,” explained Environment Minister Albert Rösti. ...

The European Commission has adopted a draft mandate signalling its readiness to open negotiations with Switzerland on future cooperation and a series of agreements. This now passes to the European Council. Switzerland, for its part, has already unveiled its draft mandate for negotiations with the European Union.

The document, which is not public, will be sent to European Union member states which still have to approve it.

The mandate proposal follows 18 months of exploratory talks between officials from Brussels and Bern, the European Commission said in a press release on Wednesday. ...

Fewer than a third of Swiss people are in favour of nuclear power. Enthusiasm for wind turbines is also limited, according to a survey. The Swiss are primarily in favour of solar panels and hydroelectric power plants for their electricity supply.

According to a representative survey conducted by management consultants Deloitte and published by the news agency AWP, large-scale rooftop solar installations are seen as the most important option, with 63% in favour. This is followed by the expansion of existing reservoirs and hydroelectric power plants (53%). ...

UBS Group is planning to sell its exposure to a portfolio of loans that Credit Suisse made to junk-rated Italian companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Swiss bank is seeking an exit from the revolving credit facilities for five borrowers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorised to speak publicly about the matter. Goldman Sachs Group is carrying out the sale on behalf of UBS, said the people.

The chunks of debt range in size from €10 million (CHF9.45 million) to €40 million and prices are indicated at par or just below, said the people. Bids for Credit Suisse’s positions are due in the first half of January, they said. ...

The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Switzerland for a police operation in Zurich on May 1, 2011. According to the judgement, the encircling of protesters and subsequent detention violated the rights of two demonstrators.

According to court’s decision published on Tuesday, the police violated the rights to liberty and security of the two individuals concerned. Switzerland was ordered to pay both of them compensation for non-material damage totalling €1,000 (CHF945) as well as costs and expenses totalling €10,000. ...

A new voice will resound from the top of Lausanne Cathedral in Switzerland from January 1. It will be that of the new watchman, Alexandre Schmid.

"Mr Schmid holds a bachelor’s degree in history and geography from the University of Lausanne and is a connoisseur of the city of Lausanne,” said the university in a press release on Tuesday. The medieval history enthusiast will succeed Renato Häusler, who has held the post since 2002 and is retiring.

Like his predecessor, the new watchman will call out the hours from 10pm to 2am, 365 days a year. He will be assisted by a team of one watchman and five replacement watchmen. ...

Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) has donated 156 beds to Ukraine. They will be transported in three trucks and are destined for eight Ukrainian hospitals.

This humanitarian donation was made in partnership with the Zurich-based organisation Zuerich hilft der Ukraine, as announced on Tuesday by the HUG, which provided the refurbished beds and took care of the transport, financing and logistical support. The beds were transported to hospitals in Lozova, Bogodukhivsk, Vovchansk, Chuguyivsk, Balaklia, Izium, Kharkiv and Lviv. ...

The House of Representatives has followed the Senate in supporting a government proposal to classify Hamas as a terrorist group.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives tacitly adopted a committee motion calling for the Islamist organisation to be declared a terrorist group. Switzerland must adopt a clear position following the inhumane attacks and war crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, said parliamentarian Fabien Fivaz on behalf of the committee. He wanted Hamas to be banned in Switzerland. That way, its financial flows can be cut off. ...

Switzerland will not deport Eritreans with rejected asylum applications to a third country such as Rwanda. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives rejected a motion calling for a pilot project for such deportations.

The motion was originally put forward by Damian Müller, a member of the centre-right Radical-Liberal party, and approved by the Senate in June.

Müller had justified the motion with the statement that it was about people who had undergone an asylum procedure in Switzerland, had received a negative decision and did not need international protection. They were occupying places that were needed by refugees who required protection. ...

The Swiss International Air Lines’ (SWISS) fleet is complete again: on Sunday, the airline retrieved the last of its aircraft from the Jordanian capital Amman.

Twenty-five aircraft had been temporarily parked in Amman when passenger numbers plummeted during the pandemic.

The Airbus A320 took off again with passengers for the first time on Tuesday and flew to Berlin, SWISS announced. It was the last aircraft to be brought back from the desert by a specially trained crew after more than three years in a “deep sleep”. ...