Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

Switzerland is still buzzing after yesterday’s climate change verdict. But the hangover has left many unanswered questions. How will the verdict be integrated into the Swiss legal system? Does Switzerland have to implement the ruling? Could other countries be next? Our colleagues at SRF started to unpack some of these questionsExternal link but it’s clear this isn’t the last time we’ll talk about this.

We have more questions (and some answers!) in today’s briefing.

Rents have been rising rapidly in Switzerland. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / CHRISTIAN BEUTLER

In the News: New too-big-to-fail bank regulation, pharma job cuts, and some proposals to curb rising rents.

• The government put forward its proposal for new big bank regulation, the so-called “too big to fail” rules. With a package of 22 measures, it wants to ensure that UBS or another major bank doesn’t find itself in a Credit Suisse-like crisis and has to be rescued by the state.
• The Federal Council approved the country’s participation in the European Sky Shield air defence umbrella, designed to build an integrated air and missile defence system across Europe. Several countries, including non-NATO members, have signed up to the project including Germany, Britain and Finland.
• Swiss pharma firm Novartis announced it is cutting jobs in its development division as part of its ongoing transformation to focus on new, on-patent medicine. This includes about 440 positions in Switzerland and up to 240 positions in the US.
• The Swiss government announced proposals to curb rising rents with various short-term measures. It put a four-point package of measures out for consultation that included things like forbidding landlords from passing on general cost increases to tenants indiscriminately.
• Newspapers in Switzerland criticised yesterday’s climate change ruling against the Swiss government by Europe’s top human rights court, saying it risks undermining democracy and the political clout of environmental groups.

Switzerland will host a high-level peace conference on Ukraine in June. KEYSTONE/KEYSTONE / ANTHONY ANEX

The Ukraine conference is a go for June with some high level appearances but China’s attendance remains a question mark.

The save-the-dates are ready to go out for the high-level Ukraine peace conference that has been under discussion for months. Today, the government announced that the conference will be held on June 15-16 at the five-star Bürgenstock hotel above Lake Lucerne.

Switzerland is keeping the expectations for the conference realistic. The main aim is to get as many countries as possible around the table to create a common understanding of a framework to achieve a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace”. The next step is a concrete roadmap for Russia’s participation in the peace process.

Swiss ministers have been collecting flight mileage, criss-crossing the globe to lobby countries to join the conference. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) reportedExternal link on Tuesday, citing several reliable sources, that US President Joe Biden would travel to Switzerland for the peace conference.

The big question mark is whether China will also be there. Wang Shihting, China’s ambassador to Switzerland, told the NZZ in March that Beijing was “examining the possibility of taking part”.

Meanwhile, the Swiss government announced plans to support Ukraine’s reconstruction with CHF5 billion ($5.5 billion) until 2036. Aid organisations criticise the move though, stating it undermines development aid efforts. As of 2025, Ukraine would receive more money than all bilateral programmes of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in sub-Saharan Africa combined.

Commodity trading firms have faced heavy fines for bribery over the last few years. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / SALVATORE DI NOLFI

The days of bribes is over; now comes the era of lawsuits

There is no denying that commodity trading has been full of greasy-wheel deals and shady intermediaries. Even commodity trading chiefs admit that they had a problem. But those days are over according to the heads of Vitol, Trafigura and Gunvor who spoke at the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne this week.

“What you need to do is put in all those checks and balances, and training and programs in place to ensure that you can address these specific problems,” said Jeremy Weir, Trafigura CEO, when asked whether similar corrupt dealings could happen again at the company. “We’re doing the best we possibly can.”

It would seem that the heavy fines slapped on traders for bribery charges are having some kind of effect. However, time will tell. “I’m modest enough to say, you can never say never,” said Weir.

While bribery may be a thing of the past, the legal profession will still have plenty to do. According to reports today, Switzerland is considering allowing class action lawsuits. To date, claims for damages against companies can’t be submitted collectively, but only on the basis of individual lawsuits. This has deterred some individuals from going up against big companies.

Although this sounds like a positive move, some experts surveyedExternal link quoted in the NZZ worry that the real beneficiaries of such a change will be the legal profession. And, that such a move could create a lawsuit industry like the US.