500-year-old playing cards found
Switzerland’s ‘part-time’ friar
Swiss Canine Rescuers in Japan
Pearls from paste: Basel’s niche
Credit Suisse CEO wants a ‘level playing field’
Credit Suisse came out with its 2010 figures yesterday and markets were disappointed. Its shares lost 5.8 percent after Switzerland’s second biggest bank reported a net profit of 5.1 billion francs in 2010—around a quarter less than the previous year. CEO Brady Dougan talks to WRS’s Tony Ganzer about potentially lean years ahead for the Zurich-based financial institution. One reason is that new Swiss rules requiring banks to keep more of their assets in liquid form. While Credit Suisse welcomes tougher regulation, Dougan says it doesn’t want to be put at a disadvantage to other global banks. Tony Ganzer reports:
UBS employees at all levels fret for bonuses
UBS confirmed yesterday its performance-related bonus pool is 10 percent less than last year—at about 4.3 billion francs. Switzerland’s largest bank says the shrinking bonuses and more regulations will hurt its ability to retain top talent. But lower-level employees worry that changes in compensation rules will cut their pay and hurt morale. WRS’s Tony Ganzer has more:
Melting Winter
There is something soothing about the sound of running water. As the elixir of life barrels over itself from mountains to sea the air inherits a freshness. Luckily for us, bordering one side of our neighborhood is a small river. A well-flowing creek keeps the water circulating in a near-by pond . Ice still covers much of this tree-lined pond, but the ducks still find space to dunk their heads, and search for food.
To us, this bit of nature is a respite from a city’s chaos. We have lived in Berlin, Munich, Phoenix..all cities with an abundance of movement and healthy populations. Even our former neighborhood in Zurich was suburban but dense–a view of a tree was enough to be considered experiencing “nature.” A meeting with a few (Swiss) neighbors yesterday gave glimpse at how our pond and river-rich neighborhood once was, before “change” moved in.