Tag Archives: Switzerland

Export stats confirm massive outflow of Western gold to Asia, maybe ETF gold

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“The London Bullion Market Association said that the daily cleared trading volume on the London market by its members hit a 12-year high of 900 tonnes — worth $39 billion — in June on the back of ‘strong physical demand particularly from China and India.’ At the same time Swiss gold refiners, such as Metalor, Pamp, Valcambi, and Argor-Heraeus, have enjoyed a boom, melting down large 400-ounce bars from London vaults and reprocessing them into smaller products that are preferred by Asian buyers. ‘The Swiss are running three or four shifts to keep the refineries going non-stop. They’re throwing bodies at it,’ said one senior gold trader.”

http://www.gata.org/node/12938

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How ancient Rome influenced European law

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“The Roman Empire collapsed in AD 476. Isn’t it astonishing that its influence is still so great almost 2,000 years later? [..] When the empire fell, remnants of Roman law remained, coexisting with the common law of the barbarians. But it continued to thrive in the east of the Roman Empire. In the first half of the 6th century, Justinian gathered and compiled every legal judgement from the previous centuries.  In the West, this compilation was rediscovered in Bologna, Italy, at the end of the 11th century. From that emerged the creation of Europe’s first university and first law faculty. From there, Roman law spread across all of Catholic Europe.”

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/How_ancient_Rome_influenced_European_law.html?cid=36688830

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Gold Investors Seek Alpine Haven in Swiss Army Bunkers

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“At Pro Aurum, movement and vibration detectors add protection to the former Zuercher Kantonalbank branch in Kilchberg, a lakeside suburb of Zurich. Cameras hang from the ceiling to film employees as they fulfill orders from customers who can store valuables in one of the 700 safe deposit boxes or buy up to 100,000 francs ($107,000) of gold with cash over the counter without proof of funds such as a bank statement.  About half of Buchwalder’s customers are Swiss, with Europeans making up most of the remaining clients. Pro Aurum, which also has units in Austria and Germany, trades ‘over a billion francs’ of gold per year.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-14/gold-investors-seek-alpine-safe-haven-in-swiss-army-bunkers.html

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Fake police gang nabbed in western Switzerland

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“Swiss police have arrested a gang of fake officers who stole tens of thousands of dollars from tourists in the Lake Geneva area this summer. The gang, made up mainly of Romanian nationals, had been posing as officers in some of the top tourist spots in Geneva and neighbouring Vaud, police said on Friday. The set-up was always the same: a plain-clothed member of the gang would ask an unsuspecting tourist for directions, only to be interrupted by two accomplices wearing police uniforms demanding to see his and the tourist’s identification. With the tourist’s wallet in hand, the phony officers discretely pocketed the cash inside.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20130817/fake-police-ring-nabbed-in-switzerland

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The Devolution of Financial Privacy

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“It’s been no secret that China views FATCA very unfavorably and negotiations towards compliance are going nowhere. It seems unlikely that the US would hit China with the 30% withholding tax for non-compliance. With China holding roughly $1.2 trillion in US Treasuries, it’s not as if it lacks its own leverage over the US government. This leaves the FATCA juggernaut stuck in a Sino-US standoff. It appears the US will have to either make serious concessions to win China over or back down on the 30% non-compliance tax. Should China stand its ground and not compromise on FATCA, it would punch a massive hole in global compliance.”

http://www.internationalman.com/78-global-perspectives/987-the-devolution-of-financial-privacy

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Zurich unveils ‘sex boxes’ for prostitutes

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“The city of Zurich on Thursday unveiled a sex drive-in which local authorities say will enable them to keep closer tabs on prostitution, a year after voters backed the plan.  Due to be opened officially in a ceremony on August 26th, the nine so-called ‘sex boxes’ are located in a former industrial zone in the west of the metropolis, the city said. With over 1.8 million people, the Zurich conurbation makes up almost a quarter of Switzerland’s population, and the city itself has long been home to a red-light district. Work on the new site cost 2.1 million francs ($2.2 million), below the voter-approved budget, while running costs are expected to be around 700,000 francs a year.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20130815/zurich-unveils-drive-in-sex-boxes-for-prostitutes

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Stormy Weather in U.S. Cloud Computing

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“A report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) estimated that if U.S. cloud providers were to lose 10-20% of foreign business, it would cost them anywhere from $21.5-35 billion over the next three years.  But their losses present a big opportunity for European and Asian companies to pick up the slack from the growing global cloud market. A market that’s forecast to be worth $148.8 billion in 2014… $160 billion in 2015… and $207 billion in 2016.  Artmotion, Switzerland’s largest offshore hosting company, has already scooped up a big portion of the leftovers. Since the Snowden leaks, its revenue has bounced 45% higher.”

http://dailyreckoning.com/stormy-weather-in-u-s-cloud-computing/

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The Myth of the Free-Market American Health Care System [2012]

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“In 2009, according to these statistics, which come mostly from the OECD, U.S. government entities spent $3,795 per person on health care, compared to $3,100 per person in France. Note that these stats are for government expenditures; they exclude private-sector health spending. If anything, the U.S. figures understate government health spending, because they exclude the $300 billion a year we ‘spend’ through the tax code by making the purchase of employer-sponsored health insurance tax-exempt. So: if we measure by the dollar amount of government involvement in health spending, the French system is actually meaningfully freer.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/the-myth-of-the-free-market-american-health-care-system/254210/

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In Switzerland, Marijuana Use Helps Keep Prisons Calm and Safe

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“A recent study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy estimates that 50 to 80 percent of inmates in Swiss prisons use marijuana. Prison staff told researchers they found marijuana to be a relatively safe drug and that cracking down on consumption would have more negative effects than positive ones. Surveys of detainees and guards revealed similar opinions on marijuana use, with both groups describing the effects of marijuana as analgesic, calming and a way to decrease the traumatic prison experience.”

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/switzerland-marijuana-use-helps-keep-prisons-calm-and-safe

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Swiss solar aircraft returns from cross-US flight

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“Crowds of spectators welcomed the solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse on Monday as it returned to Switzerland onboard a jumbo jet following its successful trans-American flight.  A Boeing 747 jumbo carrying the prototype aircraft of aviation pioneer Bertrand Piccard landed at Dübendorf airfield in the canton of Zurich just after 7am, the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper reported. Pilots Piccard and André  Borschberg completed the historic flight from San Francisco in early July.  The world’s first solar aircraft able to fly both day and night powered solely by the sun flew 5,650 kilometres across the United States.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20130805/solar-aircraft-returns-home-after-cross-america-flight

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