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☆ Swiss have frozen $8.8 billion of Russian assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERN, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Switzerland has frozen an estimated 7.7 billion Swiss francs ($8.81 billion) in financial assets belonging to Russians, the government said on Friday, under sanctions designed to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the agency overseeing sanctions, said the 7.7 billion francs figure was only its latest estimate and was subject to change. Bern has also blocked the movement of 7.4 billion francs in foreign currency assets belonging to the Russian central bank. SECO declined to comment on which individuals have had their assets frozen. Still, the frozen assets are only a fraction of the total wealth held by Russians in Switzerland, with the country's banks holding 150 billion francs, according to estimates by the Swiss Bankers Association.

Persons: Alain Berset, John Revill, Gareth Jones, Alison Williams Organizations: Secretariat, Economic Affairs, Swiss Bankers Association, Ukraine, European, Thomson Locations: BERN, Switzerland, Moscow, Ukraine, European, Swiss, Bern, Russian

☆ Ukraine needs more air defenses to protect grain exports, Zelenskyy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

This picture taken on September 20, 2023 shows trains with Ukrainian grain stored in wagons covered with white tarpaulin on the second and third tracks in Dorohusk station at the Polish-Ukrainian border. Ukraine needs more air defenses to protect its grain export routes as well as regions bordering Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday, as he addressed an international summit on food security in Kyiv. "There is a deficit of air defense - that is no secret," Zelenskyy told the Grain from Ukraine summit, which was attended by senior officials from European countries, including Swiss President Alain Berset and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. Zelenskyy was speaking after Russia attacked Ukraine with 75 drones overnight, the biggest drone assault of the war. "There are certain air defense systems... we are asking for them," Zelenskyy said.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy, Alain Berset, Ingrida Simonyte, Ursula von der Leyen, We've Organizations: Lithuanian, Russia, UN Locations: Dorohusk, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Odesa, Ukraine's

☆ Ukraine needs more air defences to protect grain exports, Zelenskiy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"There is a deficit of air defence - that is no secret," Zelenskiy told the Grain from Ukraine summit, which was attended by senior officials from European countries, including Swiss President Alain Berset and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. Zelenskiy was speaking after Russia attacked Ukraine with 75 drones overnight, the biggest drone assault of the war. Zelenskiy said Ukraine would be supplied by its foreign partners with vessels to accompany convoys of cargo ships from Ukraine's ports to guarantee their security. Ukraine, a major exporter of grain, has been exporting grain via unilateral corridors through the Black sea, after Russia withdrew in July from a UN-brokered deal to allow grain ships through its blockade. "There are certain air defence systems... we are asking for them," Zelenskiy said.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Alain Berset, Edgars Rinkevics, Ingrida Simonyte, Zelenskiy, Ursula von der Leyen, We've, Max Hunder, Elaine Monaghan, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Lithuanian, Russia, UN, Thomson Locations: Swiss, Latvian, Ukraine, Kyiv, KYIV, Russia, Odesa, Ukraine's, Washington

☆ Ukraine Needs More Air Defences to Protect Grain Exports - Zelenskiy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Max HunderKYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine needs more air defences to protect its grain export routes as well regions bordering Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday, as he addressed an international summit on food security in Kyiv. "There is a deficit of air defence - that is no secret," Zelenskiy told the Grain from Ukraine summit, which was attended by senior officials from European countries, including Swiss President Alain Berset and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. Zelenskiy was speaking after Russia attacked Ukraine with 75 drones overnight, the biggest drone assault of the war. Zelenskiy said Ukraine would be supplied by its foreign partners with vessels to accompany convoys of cargo ships from Ukraine's ports to guarantee their security. "There are certain air defence systems... we are asking for them," Zelenskiy said.

Persons: Max Hunder, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Alain Berset, Ingrida Simonyte, We've Organizations: Max Hunder KYIV, Lithuanian, Russia, UN Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Odesa, Ukraine's

Pre-election polls suggested that Swiss voters had three main concerns: Rising fees for the obligatory, free market-based health insurance system; climate change, which has eroded Switzerland’s many glaciers; and worries about migrants and immigration. The Socialists, in second, added two seats to reach 41 in that chamber, known as the National Council. In Switzerland, voters also participate directly in government decision making. The Swiss did line up with the EU in imposing sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. The Federal Council is considering whether to join the EU and the United States in labeling Hamas a terror organization.

Persons: Pascal Sciarini, ”, “, ” Sciarini, —, Alain Berset, Viola Amherd Organizations: GENEVA, Swiss People’s Party, Swiss, Socialists, National Council, Christian, Democrat, Liberal, Greens, University of Geneva, “, SVP, Federal Council, Berset, Voters, European Union, —, Russia, Federal, EU, United Nations, Islamic, International Monetary Fund Locations: Europe, Greece, Sweden, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Swiss, Brussels, Bern, Ukraine, United States

☆ Exit poll shows Swiss right-wing party bouncing back in parliamentary election as Greens lose ground
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Members of the National Council pose for a group picture on the last day of the legislature before national elections in October at the Swiss Parliament Building (Bundeshaus) in Bern, Switzerland on Sept. 29, 2023. Exit polls conducted for Switzerland's public broadcaster showed the country's right-wing populist party was set to further strengthen its position as the largest faction in parliament in a legislative election Sunday that saw the leading Green party lose ground. The Socialists edged up nearly a 0.5 percentage point, while the Greens lost more than 4 percentage points to fall under 10%, according to the exit poll. It appeared set to eclipse the free-market Liberal party in voter support, according to the exit poll conducted by the gfs.bern agency. The parliamentary vote is one of two main ways that Switzerland's 8.5 million people guide their country.

Persons: —, Claudine Juillard, Chatelenat, Alain Berset, Viola Amherd Organizations: National Council, Swiss, Switzerland's, Swiss People's, Socialists, Greens, of States, European Union, Swiss People's Party, Christian, Democrat, Liberal, Socialist, Alpine, Federal, EU Locations: Bern, Switzerland, Poland, Geneva, Carouge, Swiss, Russia, Ukraine, United States

☆ Notable remarks on Ukraine at UN Security Council
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has his address to the United Nations Security Council laid out on the desk in front of him as he attends a ministerial level meeting of the Security Council on the crisis in Ukraine at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 20, 2023. U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN:"It's hard to imagine a country demonstrating more contempt for the United Nations and all that it stands for - this from a country with a permanent seat on this council. "The war is having an increasingly devastating toll on the people in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world. "The only pathway for a comprehensive peace ... is one that must be just and based on the charter of the United Nations, and international law." SWISS PRESIDENT ALAIN BERSET:"With Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, the (U.N.) Charter has been violated on a massive scale.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Brendan McDermid, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, BLINKEN, Putin, SERGEI LAVROV, GUILLERMO LASSO, NANA AKUFO, ALAIN BERSET, FUMIO, Gabriela Baczynska, Humeyra Pamuk, Don Durfee Organizations: United Nations Security Council, Security, REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, Wednesday, Security Council, Russia, OF STATE, United Nations, UN, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, U.N, New York, Russia, Soviet Union, .

☆ Resolving Credit Suisse: an alternative history
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Reuters GraphicsThe market shock will be all the more extreme because Credit Suisse doesn’t obviously need more capital. It seems perverse to put taxpayer money on the line while leaving the Credit Suisse bonds untouched. Of the 30 global lenders classed as systemically important by the Financial Stability Board, Credit Suisse is the third-smallest by total assets. It also enables the Swiss National Bank to offer Credit Suisse an open-ended credit line, hopefully ending the bank run. Credit Suisse is suffering from a crisis of confidence brought on by years of mismanagement, rather than a system-wide meltdown.

☆ The Swiss claim the U.S. banking crisis ultimately toppled Credit Suisse. But are they right?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pascal Mora | Bloomberg | Getty Imageswatch nowHowever, the downward spiral of Credit Suisse's share price and mounting asset outflows were underway long before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month. Swiss regulator FINMA has come under fire for allowing the situation to deteriorate as the bank spent years mired in losses and scandal. Mark Yallop, chairman of the U.K.'s Financial Markets Standards Board and former U.K. CEO at UBS, told CNBC on Tuesday that he agreed with the broad assessment that Credit Suisse's downfall was "idiosyncratic." "It's unfortunate that the problems with some of the smaller U.S. banks in the last two or three weeks happened at the same time as this issue with Credit Suisse but the two are completely different and very largely unrelated," he said. By contrast, the Swiss banking and regulatory system has come under fire.

☆ Swiss regulator says central bank loan to Credit Suisse justified AT1 bond writedown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Swiss regulator FINMA on Thursday defended its decision to instruct Credit Suisse to write down its AT1 bonds — a controversial part of the lender's emergency sale to UBS — saying it was a "viability event." The regulator said the loan Credit Suisse received from the Swiss National Bank last week, backed by the federal government, meant the conditions for a writedown had been met. The regulator instructed Credit Suisse to write down 16 billion Swiss francs of AT1 bonds, widely regarded as relatively risky investments, to zero, while equity shareholders will receive payouts at the stock's takeover value. "As Credit Suisse received extraordinary liquidity assistance loans secured by a federal default guarantee on 19 March 2023, these contractual conditions were met for the AT1 instruments issued by the bank." The Swiss federal government enacted an emergency ordinance to guarantee the additional liquidity assistance from the SNB to Credit Suisse, in order to ensure the successful implementation of the UBS takeover.

☆ Davos 2023: Ukraine's first lady to deliver letter from Zelenskiy for China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine's first lady told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday she would deliver a letter to China's delegation setting out President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's proposals for ending Russia's war against his country. China, like Russia a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is an important partner for Moscow and has refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She said she also had letters for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Swiss President Alain Berset. "Today I will give the colleagues participating in this part (of the forum) 'formula letters' from the president of Ukraine," she said in Ukrainian. "How does the world expect to reach climate neutrality, if it can’t even stop the burning down of whole Ukrainian cities.

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