Rich Americans Sue UBS
February 26, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · Leave a Comment
Rich Americans Sue UBS - A group of nearly a dozen wealthy American clients have sued UBS in a Swiss court on Tuesday, in an effort to prevent the disclosure of their identities as part of a tax-evasion investigation by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). Read more
Pictures from Switzerland
February 24, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · 1 Comment
Oberaar glacier, Oberaarhorn and Triebten mountain lake, Bernese Oberland – (Swiss Image/Roland Gerth) Read more
Hans Erni Turns 100
February 22, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · Leave a Comment
Title: Pacem in terris, 1967 Artist: Hans Erni (Swiss b. 1909) – Medium: Tempera on paper – Dimensions: 64 x 46 cm – Image courtesy: Hans Erni, Luzern/Switzerland (private property)
Hans Erni Turns 100 - Hans Erni, the Swiss Abstract Painter, designer and sculptor was born on February 21, 1909.
Hans Erni was born in Lucerne in 1909 and studied at the École des Arts et Métiers and then at the Académie Julian in Paris from 1928-1929. Read more
The Quest for Other Worlds
February 21, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · Leave a Comment
SCIENCEsuisse is an introduction to the fascinating world of science, focusing on Switzerland’s role as a centre for international research.
The series, directed by leading Swiss filmmakers, profiles 25 outstanding researchers from a wide range of disciplines. We find out which projects top researchers are working on and what scientists are pondering in the 21st century.
The series was produced by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) in collaboration with the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Episode 10 The Quest for Other Worlds… Read more
Zurich Carnival
February 21, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · Leave a Comment
Zürich Carnival – The Protestant cantons celebrate carnival after the beginning of Lent, with Crazy costumes, street musicians, concerts, an exuberant atmosphere and a parade.
This year’s Zürich Carnival or Fasnacht is from Friday, 27 February – Sunday, 1 March.
The city centre comes alive as the people of Zurich dress up and jump on floats to show off their fabulous and ridiculous costumes for the annual Zurich Carnival. The carnival celebrations and masked balls culminate in a grand and spectacular street parade on Sunday afternoon.
UBS Admits Tax Evasion Scheme
February 19, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · 1 Comment
UBS Admits Tax Evasion Scheme – Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, has admitted helping wealthy Americans to evade US income taxes. According to US reports, the bank is now rolling over on those same clients, closing their accounts and ratting on them to the Internal Revenue Services (IRS). Read more
7 Days Free in Verbier
February 17, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · Leave a Comment
7 Days Free in Verbier – In 60 seconds, eHeinz gives you a host of useful tips for Verbier, one of Switzerland’s many travel destinations.
As soon as the first snow falls, Verbier transforms into a winter sports paradise. With 410km of pistes and more than 90 lifts, the ski area of “Les 4 Vallées” (the four valleys) is one of the largest in the world.
Learn all about travel destinations in Switzerland with eHeinz, a tourism expert. And surprise your friends with top insider tips. If you follow the new eHeinz video clip carefully, you could collect 7 Days Free in Verbier for two inclusive of a SWISS flight.
Credit Suisse Reports Huge Loss
February 11, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · Leave a Comment
Yesterday in our article entitled “UBS Makes Record Loss”we reported that UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, had announced a 8.1 billion Swiss franc ($7 billion) net loss in the fourth quarter and a loss of 19.7 billion Swiss francs for 2008.
Credit Suisse Reports Huge Loss -Today, it’s the turn of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank after UBS, which reported a 4th Quarter net loss of SFr6 billion ($5.2 billion) – its worst ever result – and a full-year loss of SFr8.2 billion ($7.09 billion).
The results are far worse than the 3.72-billion-franc loss analysts had excepted. Analysts had been forecasting a full-year net loss of around SFr6 billion and a loss of SFr4 billion for the fourth quarter. A year earlier Credit Suisse (nyse: CS – news – people ) had reported a full-year net profit of 7.8 billion francs.
Chief executive Brady W. Dougan blamed the result on a poor trading performance and restructuring charges and said in a statement today that the results were disappointing but noted that the Zurich-based bank had had a profitable start to 2009.
“While our full-year results are clearly disappointing, we entered 2009 with a very strong capital position, a robust business model, a clear strategy and well-positioned businesses,” commented CEO Brady Dougan.
Unlike its rival UBS, Credit Suisse hasn’t accepted any aid from the Swiss government, and CEO Brady Dougan told analysts Wednesday that it has remained a net provider of liquidity to the market throughout the credit crisis.
Credit Suisse shares dropped 6.3% in early Swiss trading. Most other European banking stocks also declined after Wall Street reacted negatively on Tuesday to the U.S. bank bailout plan.
Château-d’Oex
February 11, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · Leave a Comment
Château-d’Oex is situated at around 1000 metres in altitude, half-way between the classy resort of Gstaad in the Bernese Oberland and the small town of Gruyères in the canton of Fribourg.
In both summer and winter, Château-d’Oex offers a diverse range of holiday experiences and sporting activities. Old decorated chalets and wonderful mountainscapes are typical for the villages of this region.
Thanks to its favourable micro-climate, Château-d’Oex has developed into a hot-air ballooning metropolis. Passenger flights are available throughout the year and an international competition in hot-air ballooning is held every January.
Highlights:
- Espace Ballon – balloon museum charting the history of aviation and ballooning. The hot-air balloon – as used by Jules Vernes, through to its use in the adventures of Piccard and Jones – is the focus of everything here.
- Etivaz cheese – is made in the Alpine huts of the Pays-d’Enhaut in cauldrons over open wood fires, and in the «Le Chalet» Fromagerie show creamery in Château-d’Oex.
- Mike Horn Family – obstacle course by the adventurer Mike Horn in the form of a treasure hunt with interesting posts about the demands placed on expeditions – an adventure for the entire family.
- Musée du Vieux Pays-d’Enhaut – the homeland museum in Château-d’Oex has dedicated its collections amongst others, to the art of silhouette cutting which has enjoyed popularity since the 18th century.
- Le Grand Chalet in Rossinière – the chalet dating from 1754 with 113 windows, in which the well-known painter Henri Balthus lived, has long been regarded as the largest in Switzerland.
- Montreux – Bernese Oberland Railway (MOB) – the Pays-d’Enhaut lies along its panoramic rail route, which links Montreux on Lake Geneva to Gstaad and Zweisimmen in the Bernese Oberland.
Top Events:
- International hot-air balloon week – a colourful spectacle in the sky. Balloonists from throughout the world convene to participate in a week-long competition (January).
How to get there:
- Public Transport: Geneva- Montreux by SBB, then take the train from MOB to Château-d’Oex.
- By car: Auto route Geneva – Lausanne – Vevey – Freiburg Take the Bulle exit and follow the road to Château-d’Oex.
- Other/Air: Connections from the international airports of Geneva and Zürich. From Geneva-Cointrin: By train to Montreux, then by MOB to Château-d’Oex. From Zürich-Kloten: by train to Bern – Spiez – Zweisimmen and then by MOB to Château-d’Oex.
Swissinfo’s Simon Bradley hitches a ride at the Château-d’Oex international balloon festival to find out why the region’s low-lying, snow-capped valleys and unusual weather conditions make for such…
UBS Makes Record Loss
February 10, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean · 2 Comments
UBS Makes Record Loss and cuts thousands of jobs – Swiss bank UBS posted the biggest ever annual loss for a Swiss firm on Tuesday and is cutting some 2,000 jobs as it reported reported a 8.1 billion Swiss franc ($7 billion) net loss in the fourth quarter.
UBS’s loss for 2008 came in at 19.7 billion Swiss francs, above analysts’ predictions of 18.7 billion francs. Read more
