Top executive Urban Angehrn of Swiss financial watchdog Finma is stepping down in the wake of Credit Suisse’s collapse earlier this year. He says the crisis surrounding Credit Suisse, which was eventually taken over by industry peer UBS, had a negative impact on his health because of all the stress involved. Angehrn is stepping down from the Finma at the …

The Swiss financial market supervisory authority, FINMA, announced on Wednesday that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the Italian regulator CONSOB and the Italian central bank, Banca d’Italia, to enhance their collaborative efforts. “Thanks to this agreement, the involved authorities can carry out their supervisory activities more effectively across borders. This enhances legal certainty for supervised entities operating in …

President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador has declared a state of emergency for sixty days following the murder of Fernando Villavicencio. The 59-year-old presidential candidate was shot dead on Wednesday after a campaign event in the capital city, Quito. “As of this moment, the armed forces are mobilized throughout the country to guarantee the safety of citizens, the peace of the …

The Israeli parliament voted on Monday in favor of a controversial legal reform proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The law reduces the influence of judges on political decisions. The vote centered around the so-called “reasonability principle.” Under the current law, judges in Israel can overturn government policies if they are deemed “unreasonable.” This occurs, for example, when a proposed …

The Swiss Federal Council has rejected the export licence for Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine. This was announced by the federal government in Switzerland on Wednesday following a request by Swiss arms company Ruag, Reuters news agency reported. The decision may have implications for previously announced deliveries of tanks by the Dutch government to Ukraine. The Federal Council argues that …

Switzerland wants to be climate neutral from 2050. That is the outcome of a referendum in the country. Can’t we ever just pick a climate side? “Other countries do just choose sides. Just look at the last elections in the Netherlands,” said Eurocommissioner Frans Timmermans. “And so India continues to emit a lot of CO2. Not nice for the earth, …

Switzerland’s Social Democratic Party has drawn up a proposal to shrink UBS’s assets following its takeover of Credit Suisse, reports Aargauer Zeitung newspaper. The combined bank will have a balance sheet of about 1.5 trillion Swiss francs – about double the size of the Swiss economy, posing huge risks for the country, especially as the bank enjoys an implicit state …

Despite all the sanctions, many Russian oligarchs are still flying around the world. It was one of the first sanctions imposed by the West as a result of Russian aggression: all private jets of Russian oligarchs would be seized on foreign soil. The US Department of justice hoped to put pressure on Putin’s confidants in this way. In practice, however, …

A special committee of the Swiss parliament is going to investigate in depth the demise of Credit Suisse and the rescue of the bank by the larger Swiss industry partner UBS. Among other things, it will look at the role of the government, the central bank and Switzerland’s financial regulator in the rescue of Credit Suisse in March this year. …

In Switzerland, a majority is slowly but surely emerging in favor of supplying weapons to Ukraine. It is unique to the neutral country. Or does a referendum throw a spanner in the works? Using Swiss Piranha armored vehicles, Saudi Arabia crushed protests in Bahrain in 2011. During that same Arab Spring, Libyan rebels used Swiss ammunition. In Syria, insurgents threw …