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Switzerland
The Swiss central bank hiked its key interest rate on Thursday and insisted that a government-orchestrated takeover of troubled Credit Suisse by rival bank UBS ended the financial turmoil. In a statement, the Swiss National Bank said it is providing large amounts of support for the deal to merge Switzerland's biggest banks and that the late Sunday announcement by the federal government, financial regulators and the central bank put a halt to the crisis. An insolvency of Credit Suisse would have had severe consequences for national and international financial stability and for the Swiss economy, said Thomas Jordan, chairman of the Swiss central bank's governing board. Taking this risk would have been irresponsible. The hastily arranged, USD 3.25 billion deal aimed to stem the upheaval in the global financial system after the collapse of two US banks and jitters about long-running troubles at Credit Suisse led shares of Switzerland's second-largest bank to tank and customers to pull o
Switzerland's government said Tuesday that it's ordering Credit Suisse to temporarily suspend bonuses for employees after orchestrating a plan for the No. 2 Swiss bank to be taken over by rival UBS. The Swiss Department of Finance says federal law allows the government to set remuneration-related measures in cases involving Switzerland's biggest banks. Late last week and into the weekend, authorities in Switzerland, backed by the central bank and financial regulators, scrambled to cobble together a $3.25 billion sale of Credit Suisse to UBS. An outflow of deposits and years of trouble raised fears that it could fail and trigger an international financial crisis after the collapse of two U.S. banks. The Swiss government says it doesn't plan to block bonus payments from last year that have been granted but are set to be immediately paid because it doesn't want to penalise Credit Suisse employees who did not cause the crisis. But authorities in the capital, Bern, said they will prohi
With Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, the superstar striker's replacement scored a hat trick to lead Portugal over Switzerland 6-1 and into the World Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday. Goncalo Ramos, a 21-year-old forward who only made his Portugal debut last month, made his first start for his country and demonstrated the kind of clinical finishing Ronaldo was once known for. Ramos scored the opening goal in the 17th minute and added others in the 51st and 67th by which time chants of RONALDO! RONALDO! were swirling around the 89,000-seat Lusail Stadium. The 37-year-old Ronaldo entered as a substitute in the 72nd minute to loud cheers, though Portugal had the game wrapped up by then with defenders Pepe and Raphael Guerreiro also scoring. Rafael Leao added a another goal in stoppage time. Manuel Akanji scored for Switzerland. Portugal advanced to the quarterfinals for the third time, after 1966 and 2006, and will play Morocco on Saturday. Portugal coach Fernando Santos now has to deci
Switzerland's loss made its upcoming World Cup rematch all the more enticing, and with a lot more on the line. Ever since the match schedule was made in April, the Group G game between Switzerland and Serbia has been one to keep an eye on. Not just because of the talented players on both teams, but because of the political tensions they brought on the field when they met at the last World Cup. Four years ago in Russia, Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka celebrated his goal against Serbia by making a double-headed eagle with his hands thumbs representing the heads of the two eagles, fingers fanned to look like feathers. The figure is considered to be an Albanian nationalist symbol. Xherdan Shaqiri added another goal in the final minute of the game, and did the same thing with his hands as the Swiss won 2-1 in the second of the three group matches. Xhaka and Shaqiri both have ethnic Albanian heritage and family ties to Kosovo. They were teenagers growing up in Switzerland when Kosovo