Switzerland

Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam sees market conditions improving during 2017 as the bank’s reorganization gathers pace and its efficiency drive continues.

Thiam told Bloomberg TV in an interview from Davos on Tuesday that "After a year in 2016 where you saw revenues really go down (across the sector)…hopefully 2017 will be better but all this is markets permitting," he said.

"We have seen across the world the benefits of globalization…but we have also seen the tensions. The cracks in the system which then found a political translation," said the CEO of Switzerland’s second-largest bank.

The Geberit Group reported that its net sales increased by 8.3% to 2.81 billion Swiss francs in the 2016 financial year. Adjusted for currency effects and in organic terms, net sales rose by 6.4%. Due to synergies from the integration of the Sanitec business, volume growth and lower prices for raw materials, management expects an adjusted operating cashflow margin (EBITDA margin) of around 28.5 percent for the year as a whole – a figure that is significantly up on the previous year.

Switzerland placed first overall in international university Insead’s 2017 Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI); the annual study, released by international graduate university Insead on Monday, measures a nation’s competitiveness based on the quality of talent that it can produce, attract and retain.
This year’s report explores the effects of technological change on talent competitiveness, arguing that while jobs at all levels continue to be replaced by machines, technology is also creating new opportunities.

Half of the Swiss people, exactly 54%, are satisfied for their financial and economic situation, for 8% the opinion is negative and 38% maintained a neutral attitude, according to the survey by the consulting firm EY at the end of 2016.

The values differ only slightly from the previous year (respectively 54%, 6% and 40%). But, considering only young people up to 35 years, the level of satisfaction is strongly decreased (from 61% to 46%) in a year while people dissatisfied (from 4% to 18%) grew.

According Gröli Martin, head of consumer sector at EY Switzerland, the latter figure is worrying. "The results show that many young people are dissatisfied with their current situation, in particular of their income and financial expenses," it said in a statement today.

In 2015, Swiss companies spent 15.7 billion francs in research and development (R & D), corresponding to an increase of 10% compared to 2012, the last year of data collection.
Switzerland is one of the countries where companies are most active in R & D, indicates today the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) in a statement.

Switzerland has been an attractive destination for Chinese tourists in recent years, especially due to their growing interest in winter sports according to a report by the Swiss Chinese Chamber of Commerce. With China’s ski industry expected to grow rapidly over the next five to 10 years, there will be greater demand for trips to ski destinations such as Switzerland.

Statistics from the Swiss government show that 2015 saw a 33% increase in the number of hotel bookings by Chinese tourists. It is part of a trend that has been taking place over the past decade.

Richemont improved watch sales in its own stores helped luxury goods, the swiss company said Thursday; sales during the last three months of 2016 increased 6% from the previous year, offering hope that the battered luxury goods sector may have turned a corner.

The increase was driven by its jewelry unit, offsetting a slight drop in specialty watch sales.

Geneva-based Richemont said sales increased to €3.09 billion in the three months to December 31, from €2.93 billion a year earlier.

A Swiss banker was jailed for seven months in Singapore on Wednesday for money laundering and other offences related to a corruption scandal involving neighbouring Malaysia’s state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Jens Fred Sturzenegger, 42, who headed the Singapore branch of Swiss lender Falcon Private Bank, was also fined $89,000 after he pleaded guilty at a district court. The Swiss national is the first foreigner to be charged in the 1MDB-linked probe by Singapore authorities.
The bank, which is also under investigation at home, was the second Swiss lender whose Singapore unit was ordered to cease operations last year after BSI Bank Ltd.