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☆ Swiss to vote on preventing cashless society, pressure group says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Swiss citizens will get the chance to try to ensure their economy never becomes cashless, a pressure group said, after collecting enough signatures by Monday to trigger a popular vote on the issue. There is no evidence of moves towards a cashless society by Swiss authorities. FBS said it had garnered over 111,000 signatures in support of the measure, above the 100,000 needed to trigger a popular vote. Under Switzerland's system of direct democracy, the proposal would become law if approved by voters, though government and parliament would decide how that law was implemented. Reporting by John Stonestreet; Editing by Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nestle to hike food prices further in 2023, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) will have to raise prices of its food products further this year to offset higher production costs that it has yet to fully pass on to consumers, Chief Executive Mark Schneider told a German newspaper. The increases will not be as steep as they were in 2022, but "we have some catching up to do over the full year," Schneider was quoted as telling Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview due for publication on Sunday. In the first nine months of 2022, the world's biggest food group, which makes KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe reported organic sales growth of 8.5%, of which price rises accounted for 7.5 percentage points. Inflation in many developed economies has been running at multi-decade highs, driven in large part by increases in prices of food and energy. Reporting by John Stonestreet; Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian Finance Ministry to treble FX sales in coming month
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 3 (Reuters) - The Russian Finance Ministry said on Friday it would sell 8.9 billion roubles ($126.6 million) worth of foreign currency a day between Feb. 7 and March 6, an almost three-fold increase in the volume of daily operations from the previous month. The finance ministry said its regular FX sales on the market will total 160.2 billion roubles ($2.28 billion) over the coming month - the highest level of FX sales for the last three years, according to analysts at BCS Express. A Reuters survey of analysts had predicted they would total 79.75 billion roubles. The finance ministry said it received 52.1 billion roubles ($741 million) less in revenue on oil and gas sales in January than it expected, citing lower export duties on gas during the month. Russia's finance ministry cannot conduct transactions in dollars and euros, citing the Chinese yuan as the only alternative.

☆ Swiss prosecutors launch case over Credit Suisse dirty money data leak -reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Swiss federal prosecutors have launched criminal proceedings targeting the perpetrators of a 2022 leak of information on thousands of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) accounts, Swiss media reported on Friday. The leak covered more than 18,000 accounts, including human rights abusers, fraudsters and businessmen subject to sanctions, thereby plunging Switzerland's biggest bank into a dirty money scandal. Prosecutors launched the case, for violation of banking secrecy laws and damage caused to Credit Suisse, after receiving a formal complaint, Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger reported. Asked whether Credit Suisse had submitted the complaint, a spokeswoman said the bank did not comment on ongoing proceedings. Spokespeople for federal prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation that proceedings in the case were active.

☆ Indian police arrest 1,800 men in crackdown on underage marriage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Zarir Hussain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GUWAHATI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Police in Assam have arrested more than 1,800 men for marrying or arranging marriages to underage girls, launching what the eastern Indian state's chief minister said on Friday was the start of a sustained crackdown on the practice. "Child marriage is the primary reason behind child pregnancy, which in turn is responsible for high maternal and infant mortality rates," he said. Nearly 1.5 million underage girls get married there every year, U.N. children's agency UNICEF said in a 2020 report. The Assam government has registered cases related to child marriage against 4,004 people, he added. Reporting by Zarir Hussain in Guwahati, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Julius Baer 2022 profits fall as it hits business cycle targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Julius Baer (BAER.S) on Thursday said net profit fell 12% in 2022 in a tough market environment, as the Swiss bank said it closed its 2020-22 business cycle by hitting all its financial targets. Net profit dropped to 950 million Swiss francs ($1.05 billion) from 1.08 billion francs. Net new money totalled 9 billion Swiss francs over the year. "We are closing the 2020–2022 strategic cycle with the second-best result ever," Chief Executive Philipp Rickenbacher said in a statement. "...This puts us on a strong footing from which we have already started the work for the upcoming three-year cycle."

☆ ABB places second block of E-Mobility shares ahead of float
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The investors will take a combined 12% stake in the E-Mobility business in the final round of private placements before its planned flotation this year, ABB said. The breakdown of the stakes taken was not given by ABB, which said the transaction represented the final placement ahead of the IPO. The company had already raised around 200 million Swiss francs from allocating an 8% stake in the business to investors. Cash raised from the two placements will be used to fund organic growth and acquisitions at E-Mobility. ($1 = 0.9155 Swiss francs)Reporting by John Revill Editing by Paul Carrel and John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Premier League clubs spend $1 bln for first time in January transfer window
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Premier League soccer clubs spent a record 815 million pounds ($1.00 billion) in the January transfer window, an analysis from Deloitte's Sports Business Group said on Wednesday. The London club, lying 10th in the league, paid a British record 106.8 million pounds for Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica on Tuesday's transfer deadline day. Over the whole of the 2022-23 season they have spent 2.8 billion pounds on player transfers, beating the previous record of 1.9 billion pounds set in 2017-18. Relegation-threatened Bournemouth were the second largest spenders within the Premier League. "Premier League clubs have outspent those within the rest of Europe's 'big five' leagues by almost four to one in this transfer window...," said Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte's Sports Business Group.

☆ Czech parliament chief assures Taiwan of her support after outcry in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks with Czech President-elect Petr Pavel on a conference call in Taipei, Taiwan January 30, 2023 in this handout picture. Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERSPRAGUE, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Czech lower house of parliament speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova on Wednesday assured Taiwan of her country's support for partner states who respect human rights and liberal democracy, ahead of a visit to Taipei planned for March. The Czechs have been intensifying relations with the self-ruled island, which giant neighbour China claims as its own, and President-elect Petr Pavel spoke with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen on Monday, drawing a sharp rebuke from Beijing. "I assured the minister that systematic support of partners who respect human rights and the principles of liberal democracy belongs among priorities of our parliamentary diplomacy," she said in a statement issued through her spokesman. Most countries avoid high-level public interactions with Taiwan and its president, not wishing to provoke China, the world's second largest economy.

[1/2] The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File PhotoZURICH/LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Financial watchdogs and government agencies from the United States, Japan and Switzerland are among creditors of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, as well as companies including Airbnb and crypto giant Binance, a court filing has shown. A host of companies from traditional industries and the crypto sector, including Airbnb Inc (ABNB.O) and Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange and once an arch-rival of FTX, were also cited as creditors. FTX said last year it owed its 50 biggest creditors nearly $3.1 billion. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his crypto-focused hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday stepped up sanctions against the Wagner Group, labeling the Russian mercenary company fighting in Ukraine as a transnational criminal organization responsible for widespread human rights abuses. The U.S. Treasury Department, as part of action targeting dozens of people and entities in an effort to degrade Russia's ability to wage the war, said it designated Wagner Group as a "significant transnational criminal organization" on Thursday. It had previously designated Wagner under its Russia and Ukraine sanctions programs. "These images were gathered in order to enable Wagner combat operations in Ukraine," Treasury said. He said the United States assesses Wagner has about 50,000 personnel deployed to Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts recruited from Russian prisons.

☆ Wall St Week Ahead Tech stock rebound faces doubters with earnings season ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index (.NDX) has gained over 3% in 2023, double the rise for the S&P 500 (.SPX). The Nasdaq 100 fell 33% in 2022, while the S&P 500 lost 19.4%. Apple, the largest U.S. company by market value, and Google-parent Alphabet report the following week. Fourth-quarter earnings in the tech sector are expected to have declined 9.1% from a year ago, compared to a 2.8% decline for S&P 500 earnings overall, according to Refinitiv IBES. The S&P 500 tech sector still trades at a roughly 19% premium to the broader index, above its 7% average of the past 10 years, according to Refinitiv Datastream.

In a long-awaited report, a panel of independent experts convened by the British government said both those theories were unlikely, and that it had been "unable to identify a clear and convincing single cause" for the deaths. "We've ruled things out, but we've not been able to confidently rule things in...," panel member Tammy Horton, a researcher at the National Oceanography Centre, told an online press briefing. It was "about as likely as not" that a pathogen new to UK waters caused the deaths, it said, though no new pathogen was detected. Several of the factors it considered might in combination also have been a cause, it added. British Environment Minister Therese Coffey said on Friday she would consider if further analysis by government scientists might establish a conclusive cause.

☆ Pipemaker Geberit's sales fall, says home improvement boom over
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sales decreased to 3.39 billion Swiss francs ($3.70 billion) from 3.46 billion francs in 2021, which was a record year for a company whose pipes and ceramics are used in renovation and new-build projects. But converting those revenues into Swiss francs had a negative impact of 234 million francs. Sales volumes hit a record level in the first half due to the build-up of inventories at wholesalers. Both those trends were particularly marked during the fourth quarter, when sales fell nearly 14% to 667 million francs. The Swiss company is due to report full-year earnings on March 8.

☆ Davos 2023: Greta Thunberg to meet IEA chief Birol
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Maha El Dahan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Greta Thunberg is set to meet International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol in Davos on Thursday, the organiser of a planned round-table event told Reuters. The IEA, which makes policy recommendations on global energy, was not immediately available for comment. Thunberg attended the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting in Davos in January 2020, when she challenged world leaders, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, to act on climate change, saying that "our house is still on fire". Climate change is one of the main items on the agenda for this year's meeting. For daily Davos updates in your inbox sign up for the Reuters Daily Briefing here: https://www.reuters.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/Reporting by Maha El Dahan and Alexander Smith; Editing by editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Davos 2023: Moderna CEO in talks with China to supply COVID vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Brenda Goh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Moderna (MRNA.O) chief executive Stephane Bancel said on Wednesday the U.S. company was in active discussions to supply COVID-19 vaccines to China. Beijing has so far insisted on using only Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines for its own population, but the country is beset by a raging COVID outbreak following a U-turn from Beijing on previously ultra-tight anti-pandemic curbs. China-made COVID vaccines are of the inactivated virus type and not based on the messenger RNA technology used in the most widely used shots developed by Moderna and Pfizer (PFE.N)-BioNTech (22UAy.DE). As regards cancer treatments, Moderna has been working with Merck (MRK.N) on an experimental vaccine against melanoma based on the mRNA technology used in successful COVID-19 vaccines. The company, whose COVID-19 vaccines are made in the United States and Switzerland, is building or planning to build plants in Canada, Australia, Britain and Kenya, he said.

☆ Credit Suisse to pay upfront bonus to top staff -Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) will pay upfront bonuses to its senior bankers this year, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing an internal memo it said it had seen. Managing directors and directors in most locations will be paid the cash component of their variable 2022 compensation straight away, the news agency said, as the under-fire Swiss bank battles to hang on to valued staff. Credit Suisse has been battered by mishaps, including a $5.5 billion loss on U.S. investment firm Archegos, and had to freeze $10 billion worth of supply chain finance funds linked to insolvent British financier Greensill. Last month it successfully completed the final part of a 4 billion Swiss franc ($4.28 billion) fundraising and said its liquidity levels had been boosted. Reporting by John Stonestreet, editing by Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Siemens signs 3 bln eur train deal in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Siemens will deliver 1,200 electric locomotives and provide servicing for 35 years under the agreement, also its biggest ever in India. "These new locomotives ... can replace between 500,000 to 800,000 trucks over their lifecycle," said Siemens Mobility CEO Michael Peter. The order was a big step for Siemens in India, Peter told Reuters, saying the company had previously mainly provided components and infrastructure there. The deal is the latest bumper contract won by Siemens after it signed a 900 million euro deal for a new metro line in Sydney, Australia in December. He said Siemens was also looking at other train contracts in India, the world's largest rail market with 24 million passengers travelling daily on more than 22,000 trains.

☆ Back to the future: Toyota sets sights on old-car upgrades in zero-emissions drive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda and Toyota's GAZOO Racing Company President Koji Sato attend an event for Toyota GAZOO Racing and LEXUS at Tokyo Auto Salon 2023 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonCHIBA, Japan, Jan 13 (Reuters) - In an eye-catching bid to show that cars can be clean while appealing to old-school petrolheads, Toyota Motor (7203.T) on Friday showcased zero-emission versions of its 1980s sports range, which still boasts a strong global fan base. Toyota President Akio Toyoda said remodelling existing cars needed to be explored as an option to achieve a goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050. In Japan, only one in about 20 cars on the road are new, and older ones are mainly powered at least partly by gasoline. "It's important to leave a choice for cars that are already loved or owned by someone," Toyoda, a self-confessed car-lover and race-car driver, said at the event.

☆ Swiss Six exchange opens probe into Clariant whistleblower case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Six stock exchange on Thursday opened an investigation into Clariant (CLN.S) over the possible disclosure of price-sensitive information, following whistleblowers' allegations that some staff had manipulated accounts. A spokesperson for the specialty chemical company said the investigation related to a delay in publishing its 2021 results, due to an investigation into the accounting of some provisions and accruals. In February, Clariant delayed the release of 2021 results as independent advisors looked into the allegations that some staff manipulated accounts in 2020 and 2021 to help meet financial targets. In April that investigation concluded that there had been no impact on sales and cash numbers previously reported, it said. Reporting by Miranda Murray and John Stonestreet; Editing by Noele Illien and Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Logitech cuts sales outlook after Q3 miss; shares seen sinking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Logitech International (LOGN.S) on Thursday reported lower earnings and sales between October and December and cut its sales outlook, citing a difficult economic backdrop and supply chain uncertainties linked to China's COVID-19 outbreak. CEO Bracken Darrell said the weaker-than-expected results reflected "challenging macroeconomic conditions including a slowdown in sales to enterprise customers in the quarter." The company was cutting its outlook based on the results and on "uncertainty in supply availability related to the current COVID outbreak in China." Last year, COVID restrictions drove Logitech to its highest ever second-quarter sales on the back of strong demand for home office products and computer gaming devices. Reporting by Noele Illien and John Stonestreet; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Noele IllienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Swiss National Bank posts record $143 billion loss in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, Jan 9(Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank posted an annual loss of 132 billion Swiss francs ($143 billion) in 2022, it said on Monday, the biggest in its 115-year history as falling stock and fixed-income markets hit the value of its share and bond portfolio. Monday's provisional figure, which marked a reverse from a 26 billion franc profit in 2021, was far bigger than the previous record loss of 23 billion francs chalked up in 2015. It made a loss of 131 billion francs from its foreign currency positions - the more than 800 billion francs in stocks and bonds it bought during a long campaign to weaken the Swiss franc. The strong Swiss franc - it rose above parity versus against the euro in July - led to exchange rate-related losses. The 2022 loss meant the central bank will not make its usual payout to the Swiss central and regional governments, it said.

The government uses the estimates as a basis for its growth and fiscal projections for the next budget due on Feb. 1. Since September, economists have been cutting their 2022/23 growth projections to around 7% due to slowing exports and risks of high inflation crimping purchasing power. India's nominal growth, which includes inflation, is projected to be at 15.4% for 2022/23, up from an earlier 11.1% estimate. "The nominal GDP growth is higher, implying that the government's fiscal deficit target will be achieved," said Sabnavis. "Buoyant albeit mixed domestic consumption should help to stave off some of the pain arising from weak exports during this period," Aditi Nayar, economist at ICRA.

MUMBAI, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Loss-making Indian telecom operator Vodafone Idea has sought at least 70 billion rupees ($846 million) in emergency funds from local banks, which are however reluctant to extend fresh loans, four sources familiar with the matter said. "Without that (capital injection) it looks difficult for the company to ...survive," said one top official at a state-owned bank. Vodafone Idea (VODA.NS), the telecom ministry, and State Bank of India (SBI.NS) - the country's largest lender which the company has approached for financing - did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. A feasibility study shared by Vodafone Idea with its bankers suggested the business might need a radical restructuring in order to survive, several of the sources said. An equity conversion by the government would be expected to raise its stake in the company to beyond 30%.

☆ Iran says it foiled cyberattack on central bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Iran has foiled a cyberattack on its central bank, the country's telecommunications infrastructure company said on Friday. Anonymous and other global hacking groups threatened in October to launch cyberattacks on Iranian institutions and officials in support of anti-government protests and to bypass internet censorship there. Amir Mohammadzadeh Lajevardi, head of the Infrastructure Communications Company, said the central bank was targeted by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Thursday night, the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying. "These days, the largest volume of foreign attacks is against banks and financial institutions, internet providers and communications infrastructures, which have been repelled," Lajevardi said. The central bank said in September that a cyberattack briefly took its website offline.

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