International Business News - Switzerland http://www.ibtimes.com All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif Tourists in Switzerland can soon sleep in the world's first "zero-star hotel," a former nuclear bunker several yards below the ground. A group of 15 guests inaugurated the hotel, sleeping the night from Thursday to Friday in the former bunker embellished with artistic decoration and real hotel duvets. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081010/swiss-bunker-becomes-first-zero-star-hotel.htm Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:42:57 EDT Switzerland's blue-chip index SMI dropped 4.5 percent Thursday to close below 6,000 for the first time since April 2005. Declines in shares of Swiss pharmaceutical companies helped pull down the Swiss Market Index to 5,798.84 points down 36.54 percent from the year's high of 9243.79 points on Oct. 11, 2007. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081009/swiss-index-closes-below-6-000.htm Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:11:57 EDT Libya said Thursday it has halted oil shipments to Switzerland and withdrawn its money from Swiss banks, three months after the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi's son in Geneva sparked a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081009/libya-halts-oil-shipments-to-switzerland.htm Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:46:15 EDT The Swiss Federal Banking Commission said Thursday it has put in place special measures to protect investors at the Swiss branch of Iceland's troubled Kaupthing bank. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081009/switzerland-moves-to-protect-kaupthing-clients.htm Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:04:17 EDT Switzerland's government would step in to prevent the collapse of either of its two major banks, UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group, the country's economics minister said Thursday. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081009/swiss-would-save-big-banks-from-collapse.htm Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:12:07 EDT General Motors Corp. said Thursday sales of its Opel and Vauxhall brands dropped over 6 percent in Europe during the first nine months of the year as the global economic downturn hit consumer spending. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081009/gm-europe-says-economic-crisis-hitting-sales.htm Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:11:29 EDT Switzerland will vote again on whether European Union citizens should be allowed to live and work in the country after nationalist groups collected enough signatures to force a referendum, the Federal Chancellery said Monday. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081006/swiss-to-vote-anew-on-free-movement-with-eu.htm Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:48:47 EDT Switzerland's top prosecutor charged 10 people with laundering more than $1 billion dollars during a decade-long mafia cigarette smuggling operation, Swiss authorities said Monday. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081006/swiss-charge-10-in-mafia-cigarette-smuggling-case.htm Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:14:24 EDT Swiss bank UBS will cut 2,000 jobs at its troubled investment banking unit, most of which will be lost in the U.S. and Britain, an official said Friday. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081003/ubs-to-cut-2-000-jobs-at-its-investment-bank.htm Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:28:40 EDT Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services AG on Thursday wrote down $615 million in losses relating to troubled U.S. companies hit by the credit crisis. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081002/zurich-writes-down-615m-from-us-exposure.htm Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:50:30 EDT Swiss bank UBS AG said Thursday it expects to turn "a small profit" in the third quarter, raising hopes that a dismal year of U.S. subprime related losses -- to the tune of some 45 billion Swiss francs ($40 billion) -- may soon be over. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081002/ubs-expects-return-to-profit-in-third-quarter.htm Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:14:50 EDT UBS AG said Wednesday it is determined to find a solution to its dispute with U.S. authorities over allegations the Swiss bank helped rich American clients evade taxes. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081001/ubs-still-seeking-way-out-of-us-tax-evasion-probe.htm Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:39:19 EDT Xstrata PLC increased its stake in British rival Lonmin PLC on Wednesday, hours after the Anglo-Swiss mining giant sent shares in the world's No. 3 platinum producer tumbling by announcing it would not proceed with a $10 billion takeover bid. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081001/xstrata-drops-bid-for-platinum-miner-lonmin.htm Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:15:35 EDT Giuseppe Verdi's classic "La Traviata" made a seamless transition from Parisian opulence to the everyday reality of Switzerland's busiest train station Tuesday night--a challenging experiment in live television designed to bring opera to a wider audience. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/142823-switzerland-opera-la-traviata.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080930/swiss-tv-airs-la-traviata-from-train-station.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080930/swiss-tv-airs-la-traviata-from-train-station.htm Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:52:48 EDT Hurricane Ike will cost the global insurance industry up to $14 billion, Swiss Reinsurance Co. said Tuesday. Ike caused widespread damage in Cuba and the Texas Gulf coast earlier this month. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080923/ike-could-cost-insurers-up-to-14bn.htm Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:26:07 EDT The world's largest atom smasher--which was launched with great fanfare earlier this month--has been damaged worse than previously thought and will be out of commission for at least two months, its operators said Saturday. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/134914-switzerland-particle-collider.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080920/officials-damage-to-collider-forces-2-month-halt.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080920/officials-damage-to-collider-forces-2-month-halt.htm Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:07:06 EDT The European Organization for Nuclear Research says its new particle collider has been damaged worse than previously thought and will be out of commission for at least two months. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080920/officials-damage-to-collider-forces-2-month-halt.htm Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:34:07 EDT Swiss bank UBS AG said Tuesday it could lose up to $300 million as a result of the bankruptcy of U.S. investment giant Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. UBS, reacting to a study that claimed Switzerland's largest bank would lose over $4 billion, said its "direct and counterparty exposures to Lehman Brothers, net of hedges, are now substantially closed out." http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080916/ubs-could-lose-up-to-300-million-from-lehman-fall.htm Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:38:52 EDT German-born billionaire coffee, chocolate and employment king Klaus J. Jacobs has died. His family-owned investment firm Jacobs Holding says he had been suffering from cancer and died during the night. He was 71. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080911/coffee-king-klaus-jacobs-dies-in-zurich-at-age-71.htm Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:03:49 EDT Hurricane Gustav will cost the global insurance industry up to $8 billion, Swiss Reinsurance Co. said Monday. Insured damages from natural disasters through the end of August were 20 percent higher than in the same period last year, the company said before an annual industry meeting in Monaco this week. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080908/gustav-could-cost-insurers-8bn-says-swiss-re.htm Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:25:10 EDT