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☆ Swiss shift rightwards in vote as immigration fears trump environment
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Swiss Parliament Building (Bundeshaus) is pictured in early autumn light in Bern, Switzerland October 11, 2021. The SVP cemented its place as the biggest group in parliament's lower house, increasing its share of the vote to 28.6%, according to data from the Swiss Federal Statistics Office. The SVP also highlighted the expense of the asylum system, while arguing that crime rates were rising because of immigration. Switzerland's second-biggest party, the left-leaning Social Democrats (SP) also slightly increased its share of the vote to 18%. The big loser in the election was the Green Party, whose support fell 3.8 percentage points, losing them five seats.

Persons: Denis Balibouse, Switzerland's, Cedric Wermuth, John Revill, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Swiss, Rights, Swiss People's Party, SVP, Swiss Federal Statistics Office, National Council, Social Democrats, Green Party, pollsters GFS, Thomson Locations: Bern, Switzerland, Ukraine, pollsters, pollsters GFS Bern

☆ 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

☆ Switzerland projected to shift to right in national elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] General view of the snow-covered mountains of the Bernese Alps, Eiger, Moench and Jungfrau, as seen from Bern, Switzerland October 28, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann Acquire Licensing RightsZURICH, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Switzerland looked set to shift to the right in its national elections on Sunday, as concerns about immigration and political correctness trumped fears about climate change and melting glaciers. Switzerland's second biggest party was poised to increase its share by 0.4 percentage points of the vote to 17.2%. In contrast, the Greens were expected to see their share of the votes fall by 4.1 percentage points to 9.1%. "The SVP has done well because it has raised fears about 'wokeness' and also focused on migration again,” said Hermann.

Persons: Arnd, pollsters GFS, Michael Hermann, ”, Hermann, John Revill, Cecile Mantovani, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Swiss People's Party, SRF, pollsters, Social Democrats, Greens, Federal Council, Thomson Locations: Bernese, Bern, Switzerland, Swiss, pollsters GFS Bern

GENEVA (AP) — Voters in a southern Swiss region on Sunday rejected a plan to allow large solar parks on their sun-baked Alpine mountainsides as part of the federal government’s push to develop renewable energy sources. The rejection doesn't torpedo solar parks entirely if the private sector wants to develop them. At stake is up to 60% of financing for big solar parks. The federal energy department estimates that about 40 to 50 proposals for large solar parks have been made across the country. Overall, Swiss federal authorities have set a target of 2 billion GWh in new solar energy under legislation promoting development of solar energy, adopted in September 2022.

Persons: “ Organizations: GENEVA, — Voters, Swiss People's Party Locations: Swiss, Valais, Switzerland, Bern Oberland

ZURICH, July 11 (Reuters) - A rare Swiss parliamentary investigation due to start this week aims to establish what went wrong before the dramatic fall of Credit Suisse, once Switzerland's second biggest bank. It was apparent that Credit Suisse was in difficulties over the last two years after a string of scandals, with customers withdrawing money on a massive scale at the end of 2022. Could the central bank have done more, for example by promising Credit Suisse unlimited liquidity to reassure customers and stem the outflow of funds? It is unclear whether Credit Suisse and UBS executives are obliged to appear if asked, but they are expected to do so due to intense political and public pressure. POSSIBLE OUTCOMESWhile some experts have said the inquiry offers the Swiss authorities an opportunity to redeem themselves, others have warned it could simply become political theatre.

Persons: Peter V Kunz, Isabelle Chassot, Franziska Ryser, John Revill, Tomasz Janowski, Alexander Smith Organizations: Credit Suisse, UBS, Bern University, Swiss, Swiss National Bank, Suisse, Swiss People's Party, Social Democrats, Greens, Green Liberals Party, Thomson Locations: ZURICH, Swiss, Switzerland, Mitte

☆ Switzerland's Social Democrats propose shrinking UBS
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The left-leaning party will propose to cap the bank's assets at half of Switzerland's gross domestic product, effectively forcing the new UBS to slash its assets to a quarter of their current level. Social Democrats are the second-biggest party in the lower house, but with only 39 of the 200 seats will need support of other parties. The Swiss People's Party, which has 53 lower house seats, joined the Social Democrats in rejecting the government's aid package for the merger last month and has also called for no more taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks. An alternative, also considered by the Social Democrats, would be imposing higher capital requirements if the bank's assets rose above 50% of Swiss GDP. "The aim is for UBS to become smaller," Marti told the newspaper.

☆ Powerful Swiss central bank faces reform calls in wake of Credit Suisse rescue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] The Swiss National Bank (SNB) building is seen near the Limmat river in Zurich, Switzerland March 23, 2023. The governance concerns have been brought centre-stage by the search for a new member to replace Andrea Maechler, the first woman to serve on the SNB's governing board. The Swiss parliament would have to approve any expansion of the SNB's board. Still, the SNB Observatory, a group of economists set up to stimulate a debate about the SNB, has suggested that the small committee meant the central bank was susceptible to group think. Thomas Stucki, a former head of asset management at the SNB, said it was typical for central bank chairmen to dominate decision-making.

PARLIAMENT 'CIRCUMVENTED'The Credit Suisse/UBS merger marked the first time that parliament had withheld its support for emergency laws designed to deal quickly with crises. Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter defended the use of the emergency powers, saying Switzerland was not an "emergency dictatorship." "The emergency law is based on the federal constitution and I don't think it's correct to say it's illegal." "Politicians might have wanted to show their disapproval about what happened, but they don’t want the UBS takeover to fail." The use of such emergency legislation, overturning antitrust rules, is a problem for Swiss democracy and rule of law.

Ermotti may need to persuade Switzerland's authorities that UBS should keep "the piece de resistance," Credit Suisse's domestic bank, said Porta's Wittmann. During the financial crash of 2008 it was UBS, not Credit Suisse, that took the lion's share of support from the state. One of Ermotti's biggest challenges may be to prevent Credit Suisse's problems contaminating UBS, which will involve hacking back its investment bank and its unwieldy derivatives. Disentangling Credit Suisse's finances, however, is only a part of the problem. "There are clearly parts of Credit Suisse that have had a bad culture.

☆ Giant bank deal triggers political backlash in Switzerland
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ZURICH, March 20 (Reuters) - Switzerland's two biggest political parties sharply criticized UBS's (UBSG.S) takeover of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) saying multi-billion state support for the deal created enormous risks for the country. Credit Suisse and UBS could benefit from around 260 billion Swiss francs ($280 billion) in state and central bank support, a third of the country's gross domestic product. The Social Democrats are the second biggest party in the Swiss parliament and have two ministers in the country's ruling cabinet. In a memo seen by Reuters that was sent to staff on Sunday after the deal announcement, Credit Suisse reassured staff that their bonuses would be paid in full. The party, the biggest in the Swiss parliament and which also has two members of the seven-strong cabinet, demanded clear conditions for the takeover.

☆ Analysis: Swiss neutrality on the line as arms-for-Ukraine debate heats up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Buyers of Swiss arms are legally prevented from re-exporting them, a restriction that some representing the country's large weapons industry say is now hurting trade. Under Swiss neutrality, which dates back to 1815 and is enshrined by treaty in 1907, Switzerland will not send weapons directly or indirectly to combatants in a war. Third countries can in theory apply to Bern to re-export Swiss weapons they have in their stocks, but permission is almost always denied. Meanwhile the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), the lower house's largest party and traditionally staunch defenders of neutrality, now appears divided. ($1 = 0.9132 Swiss francs)Reporting by John Revill; editing by John Stonestreet and Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A clock is seen near the logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse at the Paradeplatz square in Zurich, Switzerland October 5, 2022. Credit Suisse is also considering spinning off part of its advisory and investment banking business, which could bring in outside investors and be named First Boston, Bloomberg has reported. If such deals do not materialize or fall short of expectations, Credit Suisse will go for a capital increase, said that person. "I am more worried that Credit Suisse will be bought at a bargain price by an American bank," he said. Ray Soudah, Chairman of Swiss mergers and acquisitions specialist Millenium Associates, said disposals risked making Credit Suisse "an even greater target".

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