UBS cuts 56 back-office jobs in Luxembourg, part of the plan of reducing costs. Earlier this month the group had planned to eliminate 60 workplaces in the Grand Duchy for replace in Wroclaw, Poland, where labor cost is lower.
The encouraging data coming from exports have once more convenced the Swiss government to review forecasts for the 2016. Swiss foreign trade still growing in August and exports recorded a nominal increase of 7% (actual: + 1.2%) over the same month of 2015, rising to 16.1 billion Swiss francs, as the Federal Customs Administration indicates in a note today and now the Swiss economy is expected to grow by 1,5% in 2016. The precedent data indicated +1,4%.
Imports grew by 8.4% (+ 5.1% in real terms, ie adjusted by the evolution of prices) to 13 billion while the trade balance closed with a surplus of 3 billion francs.
The president of the Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann believes that the ECB can not stand still for too long: "Under no circumstances can interest rates remain so low for longer than is absolutely necessary with regard to price stability" he said on Monday.
The number one of the German Central Bank also does not take sides in a positive way towards extension of the quantitative-easing plan, which will expire in March 2017, but at the same time makes it clear they do not want to take for granted such a decision.
Credit Suisse corrects upwards its growth forecasts for the Swiss economy this year: according to the institute’s economists, the gross domestic product will increase by 1.5% this year, versus + 1.0% expected previously. The 2017 estimate remains unchanged, fixed at 1.5%. And the bank warned: stronger expansion is closely related to the immigrants, who are required to increase the workforce.
The Swiss economy will not get back into full swing in 2017 either, due to a lack of momentum among key growth drivers – in particular immigration. These are the conclusions of the Credit Suisse economists in the latest issue of "Monitor Switzerland".
OVS, Italian clothing chain, has launched a takeover bid for Charles Vögele Holding, active in the fashion retailer, with 760 stores including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Eastern Europe and annual sales of about 800 million Swiss francs .
The goal is to acquire a minority stake of 35% in Sempione Retail for a total investment of 14.1 million Swiss francs and no significant impact on indebtedness. Sempione Retail is the vehicle through which it was launched the takeover bid for the shares of Charles Vögele Holding, at a price of 6.38 Swiss francs each.
Standard & Poor’s upgrades Russia’s outlook. Analysts believe that GDP should increase by 1.6% for the next three years, despite the sanctions imposed by Europe to Moscow to the Ukrainian question. "The exogenous risks for Russia – the note reads – have been reduced significantly in a context in which the economy of the country comes to terms with the double shock linked to lower oil prices and sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States ".
Syngenta, agrochemical group Basel-based, has to pay $ 1.2 million to settle a dispute with EPA, the US government agency for environmental protection, relating to the sale of pesticides declared incorrectly.
The Bank of England introduced its first plastic 5-pound banknotes Tuesday in UK. They depict Winston Churchill, and are two and a half times more resistant than paper money, in use for over 300 years. Next year, the plastic £ 10 note with the English writer Jane Austen will go into circulation, and followed by the painter J.M.W. Turner £20 note by 2020. In a press release, the bank said it has printed 440 million of the "New Fivers," which will begin to show up immediately in ATMs and at bank counters.
