Word: switzerland
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Swiss banking giant UBS takes its name from the first initials of the company's original moniker Union Bank of Switzerland. But over the past few months the Swiss have begun to joke that the acronym should stand for United Bandits of Switzerland. Fury over a tax scandal and massive losses thanks to UBS's exposure to the toxic subprime market in the U.S. is growing fast. "Those arrogant and greedy bankers are tarnishing our image," says Marie-Claire Favre between sips of her cappuccino in a Lausanne cafe. Standing in front of UBS's Lausanne office, Bernard Thevenoz...
Banks are the backbone of Switzerland's economy, accounting for 12% of national GDP, and for decades they have been central to the Swiss view of themselves. But the past few months have not been good for the industry, and in particular UBS, which has been under a cloud since last summer. That was when news broke that U.S. authorities were investigating the world's largest manager of private wealth for its role in helping rich Americans hide $200 billion in undisclosed offshore accounts to avoid taxes. Last month UBS agreed to pay the U.S. a $780 million penalty...
Financial analysts say those strong feelings are beginning to translate into financial decision making. The number of UBS customers closing their accounts is on the rise. Panagiotis Spiliopoulos, head of investment banking research at Switzerland's Vontobel bank, estimates that $15-20 billion in domestic funds were moved from UBS to smaller banks in recent months. In normal times, one bank expert says, withdrawals would be next to nothing. "We are fed up because UBS has betrayed all the values that make us uniquely Swiss: fiscal responsibility, stability and international credibility," says Samuel Bretholz, a Geneva sociology student...
...should be illegal to help someone commit suicide is most often ascribed to the Biblical Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Despite this, several Judeo-Christian societies have condoned assisted suicide in recent years. Australia legalized it in 1995, only to rescind the law two years later. The Netherlands and Switzerland have decriminalized the practice, paving the way for a British man named Craig Ewert to travel to Zurich in December 2008 intent on taking his life. Ewert's journey and death were broadcast on British television. Although British law makes it illegal to help someone commit suicide, authorities have opted...
...Commerce Minister Chen Deming arrived in Germany with executives from about 90 Chinese companies, on a multi-billion-dollar shopping trip around Europe. The delegates signed more than $10 billion worth of deals in Germany alone, and another $400,000 worth of deals on a brief stop in Switzerland. Next stop was Spain, where the Chinese party bought about $320 million worth of goods ranging from auto parts to olive oil. Finally, in Britain they signed deals worth about $2 billion, including ordering 13,000 Jaguar cars. And while thousands of German auto workers marched in protest at layoffs...