Economy of Switzerland

'Africa's Davos' to plot continent's rise

Agence France-PresseMay 8, 2013 18:12

The great and good of global commerce descended on Cape Town Wednesday to take part in "Africa's Davos," which hopes to flesh out the promise of a continent-wide economic revolution. More than 1,000 people -- including heads of state, captains of industry and assorted onlookers -- will gather for the World Economic Forum's annual Africa gathering, which runs until Friday. They will discuss a continent long-defined by poverty, disease and war, but one that is expected to grow at more than five percent this year.

UBS quarterly profits slide 4.5 percent

Agence France-PresseApril 30, 2013 01:45

Swiss banking giant UBS on Tuesday reported that net profit slid by 4.5 percent to 988 million Swiss francs (804 million euros, $1.052 billion) in the first quarter of 2013. The result was higher than expected by analysts polled by Swiss agency AWP, which had predicted on average a net profit of 510 million Swiss francs. lc/jhb

Bayern Munich's Hoeness 'was on Swiss tax CD'

Agence France-PresseApril 28, 2013 08:01

Embattled Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, at the centre of a tax evasion scandal, first came into the crosshair of authorities in the middle of last year when his name appeared on a CD listing Germans with Swiss bank accounts, a report said Sunday. German tax investigators have repeatedly launched nationwide raids in recent years against hundreds of suspected tax dodgers, based on data on Swiss bank account holders listed on computer disks the authorities purchased from unknown sources.

Credit Suisse sees sharp jump in Q1 profit

Agence France-PresseApril 24, 2013 02:46

Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse on Wednesday said its first quarter profit rose sharply to 1.303 billion Swiss francs (1.1 billion euros, $1.38 billion) from 44 million francs a year ago. The significant jump in net profit is largely because the bank was weighed down by an accounting loss on its own debt during the same period last year. For the first quarter of this year, the bank said it had attracted 12 billion francs in new funds from clients. The investment banking division's pre-tax earnings rose to 1.3 billion francs, up from 907 million.

Credit Suisse beats forecasts, targets 2013 cash payout

Thomson ReutersApril 24, 2013 01:46

ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse's <CSGN.VX> quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations and the bank flagged a cash dividend for this year, as the restructuring of its investment banking division starts to bear fruit. Switzerland's second-largest bank reported first-quarter net profit of 1.303 billion Swiss francs (905 million pounds), up from 44 million francs a year earlier. The result beat the average estimate of 1.255 billion francs in a Reuters poll Of analysts.

Bayern Munich chief was arrested, bailed

Agence France-PresseApril 23, 2013 13:46

Bayern Munich's president Uli Hoeness, at the centre of a German tax evasion scandal, was temporarily arrested last month during a search of his home and released on five million euros ($6.5 million) bail, said a media report Tuesday. Hoeness, whose case has become a political football in election-year Germany, earlier admitted to "a grave mistake" over his Swiss bank account and told the Bild Sport weekly that "I want to clear the air. The law offers that possibility."

Swiss ready to discuss easing of bank secrecy

Agence France-PresseApril 23, 2013 09:45

Switzerland is prepared to discuss the automatic exchange of banking information in the fight against tax evasion, but only once a global standard for doing so is created, the Swiss finance ministry said Tuesday. "If the automatic exchange of information becomes an international standard, Switzerland will be prepared to discuss" it, finance ministry spokeswoman Anne Cesard told AFP in an email. In Switzerland, banking secrecy has for decades been seen as an immutable practice to protect privacy, in the same way as medical confidentiality.

Swiss freeze Greek ex-minister's assets, looks into money laundering

Thomson ReutersApril 12, 2013 12:15

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss prosecutors have frozen 10 million Swiss francs (7 million pounds) in assets linked to Greek former Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos and are investigating whether Swiss-based individuals assisted him in laundering money. In its annual report, the Swiss federal prosecution service said it was investigating numerous money laundering allegations reported by banks after Tsohatzopoulos's arrest, adding this showed the Swiss banks could be abused to aid corruption.

Swiss right-wing forces referendum on banning SNB gold sales

Thomson ReutersMarch 20, 2013 14:00

ZURICH (Reuters) - The right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) has gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on a proposal to ban the country's central bank from selling any of its gold reserves. The proposal, dubbed "Save our Swiss Gold", would prohibit the Swiss National Bank (SNB) from offloading its gold reserves as well as force it to hold at least 20 percent of its assets in gold, the committee behind the plan said on Wednesday.

French judges to seek Swiss, Singapore help in fraud probe

Agence France-PresseMarch 20, 2013 09:01

French authorities on Wednesday appointed two of the country's top examining magistrates to oversee an international probe into suspected tax fraud that has forced the country's budget minister to resign. Jerome Cahuzac stepped down on Tuesday after prosecutors announced there would be a full criminal inquiry into allegations that he had an undeclared bank account in Switzerland. The 60-year-old former cosmetic surgeon is also suspected of moving assets to Singapore in order to hide them from the tax authorities.