Switzerland Identifies $1bn Worth of Dictators' Assets
THE GUARDIAN: Three-year freeze for Swiss bank assets of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, Egypt's Hosni Murbarak and Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

The Swiss government says it has identified potential assets to be frozen worth 830m Swiss francs (nearly $1bn or £600m) belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the ousted presidents of Egypt and Tunisia.

Swiss president and foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, speaking in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, said the assets include 360m Swiss francs that may belong to Gaddafi or his entourage.

She said Switzerland had also linked 410m Swiss francs to the former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, and 60m Swiss francs to Tunisia's deposed autocrat, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Switzerland has ordered banks and other financial institutions to freeze possible assets belonging to the three men and their key supporters to prevent the funds from being secretly withdrawn. The Swiss government has said Tunisia and Egypt have already started legal proceedings to claim the assets.

The government added that neither country has yet provided the necessary evidence of possible criminal wrongdoing involving the money. » | Associated Press in Geneva | Tuesday, April 03, 2011

UK Nears Swiss Tax Deal
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: UK citizens will have to hand over millions of pounds in backdated taxes on secret bank accounts, after it emerged that the Government is close to signing a disclosure deal with Switzerland.

The European country is known for its banking secrecy and the Treasury estimates tens of thousands of British people have stored £125bn in its institutions without paying UK tax.

Any deal is likely to include a withholding tax, taken by the bank on dividend and interest payments, and a levy on previously untaxed income. Read on and comment » | Rowena Mason | Sunday, April 24, 2011

Novartis moves to stop execution drug reaching US

ZURICH, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Novartis (NOVN.VX) and its Sandoz unit, maker of a generic version of an anaesthetic used in lethal injections in the United States, have taken steps to try to stop the drug ending up in the United States.

"Sandoz has also advised all of its subsidiaries with locally approved marketing authorisations for sodium thiopental to not sell the product to distributors or third parties that may be selling it into the U.S.," Novartis and Sandoz said in a statement.

Last month, U.S. specialty medicines maker Hospira Inc (HSP.N) said it was halting its production of sodium thiopental as it did not want it to be used in executions.

Hospira said it was planning to shift production to its plant in Liscate, Italy, but the Italian parliament will only allow the drug to be made there if Hospira can guarantee that it will not be used in capital punishment.

Italy is a member of the European Union, which has banned the death penalty and criticised the United States for allowing it.

"Sandoz and Novartis support only the authorized use of injectable thiopental, which is primarily indicated for the induction of anaesthesia, and do not support the sale of this or any product for use in non-approved treatments," Novartis and Sandoz said in a statement.

Sandoz makes injectable thiopental under contract for a third party located in the UK, which sells it directly to Archimedes Pharma.

The British group is responsible for the product's marketing and commercial supply under its respective UK marketing authorisation, Novartis and Sandoz said in the statement.

Novartis and Sandoz also said Sandoz does not market the drug in the United States or ship or sell directly to any third party selling this product into the United States.

Archimedes has never exported the product directly into the United States, Deborah Saw, a spokeswoman for the group said.

It sells the drug to a distributor, which then sells it to hospital pharmacies, primarily in Britain's National Health Service, and also to other wholesalers. Archimedes does not have information on specific end-purchasers or users of its products, she said.

Sandoz and Novartis also said Sandoz was not aware of, and not able to monitor or control, the supply chain beyond its own direct customers, as it was not responsible or involved in the marketing and commercial activities of third parties.

Last November, activists sued the British government to stop the export of the drug used in capital punishment in the United States, but Business Secretary Vince Cable said he would not issue a ban because the drug can be used for legitimate purposes. 

Sodium thiopental, a sedative legally required for U.S. lethal injections, is in short supply in the United States, and at least one U.S. state has already turned to Britain to fill the gap.

Source: Reuters, Feb. 10, 2011

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UBS Tells Staff To Look Sharp
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Swiss bank UBS released a detailed employee dress code with suggestions on perfume and eating habits that is raising eyebrows across the internet. WSJ's Elva Ramirez discusses the controversy.


Related >>>

Swiss Bank UBS Bans Tight Skirts and Fake Nails
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Swiss banking giant UBS has issued a strict dress code for employees, calling on them to wear "skin-coloured" lingerie and to ditch "fancy and coloured" artificial fingernails.

In a document stretching to more than 40 pages, UBS described a head to toecompany dress code, including permissible hairstyles, what cut of skirt and which type of socks to wear.

Women should not wear "flashy" jewellery or skirts that are "too tight behind."

Underwear must not be "visible against clothing or spilling out of clothing." Rather, they should be "skin-coloured under white shirts."

Employees should also ensure that natural roots are not showing if they have coloured their hair, the document dictated.

Men should wear a "straight-cut two button jacket and pants that make up part of a classic professional suit." >>> | Thursday, December 16, 2010

Swiss Village Cuts Tax Rate to Attract More Hedge Funds from London
THE GUARDIAN: Pfäffikon is already one of the two headquarters of Man Group, the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund, and UBS recently built a base in the Alpine enclave

One-in-four hedge fund managers have moved from London to Switzerland. Photograph: The Guardian
A peaceful Swiss village that has become an unlikely rival to Mayfair is cutting its income tax rate to attract more hedge fund managers from London.

The Swiss area of Höfe in Schwyz, which includes the village of Pfäffikon, plans to cut its basic tax rate to 15% from 17% next year. It hopes to attract hedge funds that are angered by higher taxes in Britain and the public outcry against the banking industry.

Surrounded by hills and meadows, Pfäffikon is already one of the two headquarters of Man Group, the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund, otherwise based in London. The Swiss bank UBS has also recently built a base in the Alpine enclave, near Zurich.

"We know that many London-based funds are not happy with rising taxes in Britain, so this is a reminder that Switzerland and Pfäffikon are positioning themselves as a hedge fund hub," said Marcel Jouault, of the business promotion department at Pfäffikon. "Many office buildings will be completed in 2011 and 2012. Lowering taxes will attract more businesses."

The village, once mostly dependent on agriculture, has registered more than 300 businesses so far this year, including Avis Asset Management, Commodity Partners, Fargill Investments, Sussex Partners, Hadrian's Wall Capital, Highland Capital Management and Twelve Capital.

Support businesses such as bookshops, travel agencies and beauty centres have proliferated. The city is also building a centre to host smaller hedge funds. >>> Elena Moya | Monday, October 18, 2010

Swiss Endure Safe-haven Agony from Euro Flight
THE TELEGRAPH: Switzerland is fighting a losing battle to stop massive inflows of funds from investors fleeing sovereign risk in the euro area and the rest of the world, raising the risk of a violent spike in Swiss franc if global debt jitters return.

The Swiss franc has strengthened dramatically against the euro in the past six months. Photo: The Telegraph
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said it lost over 14bn francs (£8.8bn) in the first half of the year in a forlorn attempt to hold down the currency against the euro.

"If we have a US slowdown with a fresh financial crisis, everybody is going to want to buy the Swiss franc, along with bottled water, tins hats, and a shotgun," said David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC. "Now that Japan’s debt is around 200pc of GDP the franc has displaced the yen as the ultimate safe haven."

The franc has appreciated dramatically against the euro since the debt crisis surfaced in Greece and set off a broader worries about the viability of EMU. It strengthened from CHF 1.52 at the end of last year to a record CHF 1.31 earlier this month.

The SNB spent CHF80bn in one month alone trying to prevent the Swiss economy being pulled into a deflation spiral, but each attempt to buy euros has failed to secure any lasting effect. "They are betting against the fundamental trend, which never really works," said Neil Mellor from the Bank of New York Mellon.

Hans Redeker, head of currencies at BNP Paribas, said the surging franc had been driven by capital flight from the eurozone. "If there is any further tension in the EMU banking system, the franc will immediately rise further."

Handelsblatt reported that German citizens in Bavaria are crossing the border to open franc accunts in Zurich as a precaution, repeating a time-honoured tradition in times of stress. The Swiss economy is too small to absorb large inflows without causing huge disruption.

"Without intervention by the SNB, the franc might be on its way to parity against the euro," said Jürgen Büscher, founder of Büscher Private Asset Management in Zurich. Continue reading and comment >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Wednesday, July 21, 2010

How a Broker Spent $520m in a Drunken Stupor and Moved the Global Oil Price
THE TELEGRAPH: PVM Oil Futures trader Steve Perkins bought 7m barrels of crude in late-night trading binge on his laptop, driving the oil price to an eight-month high.

It's probably not uncommon for City traders to wonder how they burnt so much cash during a drunken night on the town.

But Steve Perkins was left with a bigger black hole in his memory than most when his employer rang one morning to ask what he'd done with $520m of the oil trading firm's money.

It was 7.45am on June 30 last year when the senior, longstanding broker for PVM Oil Futures was contacted by an admin clerk querying why he'd bought 7m barrels of crude in the middle of the night.

The 34-year old broker at first claimed he had spent the night trading alongside a client. But the story began to fall apart when he refused to put the customer in touch with his desk for official approval of the trades.

By 10am it emerged that Mr Perkins had single-handedly moved the global price of oil to an eight-month high during a "drunken blackout". Prices leapt by more than $1.50 a barrel in under half an hour at around 2am – the kind of sharp swing caused by events of geo-political significance. Ten times the usual volume of futures contracts changed hands in just one hour.

By the time PVM realised the trades were not authorised and swiftly began to unwind the positions, losses of exactly $9,763,252 had stacked up.

The amount was almost equal to PVM Oil Futures' entire annual revenue of $12m and caused a $7.6m loss last year - shared by the senior brokers who are its only shareholders.

It swiftly emerged that Mr Perkins had been relieved of his position at PVM, but details of the bizarre incident have only just been made public after a Financial Services Authority investigation. >>> Rowena Mason, Energy Correspondent | Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Steve Perkins, the Broker Who Traded $520m When Drunk, to Resume Career in Switzerland
THE TELEGRAPH: Steve Perkins, the oil trader banned by the UK financial regulator for illegally trading $520m in a drunken stupor, is about to resume his career as an energy broker in Switzerland.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Mr Perkins, who was fined £72,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on Tuesday, was in Geneva on Wednesday for talks about joining a commodity broker called Starsupply Renewables SA.

The revelation that Mr Perkins is once again poised to trade the global markets after single-handedly moving the oil price by $1.50 in the middle of the night will be deeply embarassing for the FSA.

The regulator said that "Mr Perkins poses an extreme risk to the market when drunk". However, it admitted last night that it knew he was planning to restart his career in Switzerland – only 24 hours after being banned for five years in the UK.

The FSA confirmed that it has notified the Swiss regulator, but admitted it was powerless to stop Mr Perkins from trading in Europe.

"The Swiss would have been made aware of this and it is up to them whether they continue giving him authorisation to work," a spokesman said.

Recommendations by the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision were meant to improve the co-ordination of cross-border financial monitoring, but this case is likely to raise concerns about whether European regulation is sufficiently joined up. >>> Rowena Mason | Thursday, July 01, 2010