The SVP has been calling for measures against immigration for years. (archive image)Image: KEYSTONE
At the major bank UBS, 10,000 jobs could be cut worldwide by 2027 and the planned investment sum of 200 billion dollars for the USA is a mystery: this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers.
Dec 7, 2025, 7:29 amDec 7, 2025, 7:29 am
According to the survey, the 10 million limit for Switzerland has a good chance
A survey by “Tamedia” and “20 Minutes” showed 48 percent approval or rather approval of the SVP initiative “No Switzerland over 10 million”. 41 percent of the 10,917 respondents rejected the proposal, while 11 percent were undecided, reported the “SonntagsZeitung” and “Le Matin Dimanche”. 88 percent of SVP sympathizers approved the initiative, while supporters of the Left clearly rejected it. FDP and centrist voters are strongly divided. The initiative text requires intervention from 9.5 million inhabitants and could lead to the termination of international agreements such as the free movement of people, which worries business representatives and the parliamentary majority. The National Council has already rejected the initiative. According to the Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland could reach 10 million inhabitants by 2040 and 10.5 million by 2055, with growth from 2035 onwards being entirely attributable to immigration. Without immigration, however, the population would decline sharply.
Swiss investments in the USA are opaque
According to “NZZ am Sonntag”, Swiss companies have sometimes calculated their investment commitments for the USA in an adventurous manner. Conspicuously high commitments from Roche and Novartis – $50 billion each – have little to do with classic material investments, as these companies also include personnel costs, marketing expenses and other items. According to the report, the federal government does not know how the total amount of $200 billion came about and which companies wanted to contribute which amounts. Only the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce under Rahul Sahgal has an overview, which determined the total in a survey of 1,500 member companies. The investment commitments should be spread across around sixty companies, including almost all large corporations. “The detailed investment list is strictly confidential and is only available to the Chamber of Commerce,” Sahgal told the newspaper. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) also does not know which company will invest how much.
OSCE Chairmanship: Cassis wants to be ready for Ukraine deal
According to “SonntagsBlick”, Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis wants to use Switzerland’s OSCE presidency in 2026 for confidence-building measures and preparation for a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. The OSCE could send observers at short notice, monitor a ceasefire line and monitor elections. “But the front line currently consists of 1,300 kilometers – the OSCE alone is too small to observe the entire length; “It would require a lot of commitment from the participating states,” said Cassis in an interview with the newspaper. He emphasized that a deal forced by US President Trump could happen quickly, which is why the organization must be ready. “As a first step, we would need an exploratory mission that goes out, explores the area and returns with a diagnosis.” The USA is of the opinion that the organization, like other multilateral institutions, has “lost its compass” and wants to cut the budget.
Gantner met with US Minister Lutnick and Parmelin
According to the “SonntagsZeitung”, entrepreneur Alfred Gantner was also present at the talks between Economics Minister Guy Parmelin and US Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick in September. The Department of Economic Affairs (WBF) confirmed this to the newspaper upon request and stated that contacts from business had made a decisive contribution to the meeting. Gantner showed how the Swiss private sector wanted to make investments in the USA in order to compensate for the trade deficit. Politicians such as Center Councilor Marianne Binder and Green National Councilor Christine Badertscher warned against a mixing of politics and economics. “Gantner’s agenda leaves questions unanswered,” said Binder. The WBF, however, emphasizes that Gantner did not negotiate and did not sign a confidentiality agreement. “The technical negotiations were conducted at other meetings,” the department wrote.
EU politicians: Justification for using the Swiss safeguard clause is unlikely
According to “NZZ am Sonntag”, EU MP Andreas Schwab does not expect Switzerland to trigger the protective clause any time soon. “It cannot realistically be assumed that this will happen in the next twenty years,” he says in an interview with the newspaper. At the same time, he emphasized that he thought it was right for Switzerland to reserve the right to trigger the clause in certain situations. In his opinion, the housing shortage is not a plausible reason for this. “The housing shortage is a problem, as in practically all European countries. Here too, I am sure that Switzerland will find solutions,” said Schwab. Switzerland would have to be able to prove “serious distortions”, which the judiciary would then be responsible for determining. According to Schwab, the protective clause could come into effect, for example, if unemployment in the tiling trade in the greater Basel area was suddenly very high – at over 50 percent, as he specified.
UBS could cut up to 10,000 more jobs
According to “SonntagsBlick”, around 10,000 jobs could be cut at UBS by 2027. According to information from the newspaper, this number is circulating internally and would affect both Switzerland and abroad. The bank is not officially commenting on any specific reduction plans and emphasizes that job cuts should be kept as low as possible and should take place through natural fluctuation, early retirement, internal mobility and the internalization of external roles. UBS continues to expect around 3,000 layoffs in Switzerland. According to the report, if 10,000 jobs were cut, the workforce would fall to around 95,000 full-time positions, after around 15,000 jobs have already disappeared since the summer of 2023. The integration of Credit Suisse is progressing more slowly than planned because numerous complex customer relationships are still missing and old CS systems have to continue to be operated. This causes high costs and delays the savings of 13 billion dollars announced by CEO Sergio Ermotti. The bank had achieved 10 billion or 77 percent of this by the end of September.
Skyguide has a hiring freeze
According to “SonntagsBlick”, the new Skyguide CEO Peter Merz has ordered a hiring and procurement freeze. The background is the fee increase demanded by Skyguide, which the responsible EU authority has so far rejected due to the lack of efficiency of the state air traffic control. Merz warned the workforce that times would be tough in an intranet video. A Skyguide spokesman confirmed to the newspaper that vacancies would only be filled once the interview process had already been completed and that new external resources would no longer be used until the 2026 budget was approved. Merz has set up an internal task force and, according to the video, deliberately foregoes external advice because he is convinced that the best solutions for greater efficiency must come from the workforce. According to the newspaper, Merz also wants to reduce the size of the management team, which was expanded by his predecessor Alex Bristol, but Skyguide neither confirmed nor denied this.
No protection for risky players: Casino Neuenburg has to pay hefty fines
According to “Le Matin Dimanche”, the Federal Casino Commission has imposed a fine of 570,000 francs on Casino Neuchâtel. The supervisory authority found a lack of vigilance against several risky players. The Federal Administrative Court confirmed the sanction despite an appeal and judged that the casino had repeatedly trivialized clear warning signals. For example, an entrepreneur with a loss of 40,000 francs, a trainee with a monthly salary of 500 francs and a loss of 4,000 francs in one evening, and a prospective pensioner who lost 52,000 francs in 2022 would be mentioned. A heavily indebted player and a father with a loss of 36,000 francs were also among the cases in which the casino reacted too late. In some cases, proceedings were closed despite the obviously precarious financial situation. The court criticized the passivity, rejected extenuating circumstances and imposed an additional 10,000 francs in fees, bringing the total to almost 600,000 francs.
Epstein also recruited in Switzerland
According to “SonntagsZeitung” and “Le Matin Dimanche”, Jeffrey Epstein’s network extended to Switzerland. Data from the whistleblower organization Distributed Denial of Secrets revealed that Epstein financed a young dancer in Geneva from the age of 18. He transferred thousands of dollars to her via Western Union, helped pay for her private school and even provided her with a credit card. This support corresponds to his usual practice of making young women financially dependent before luring them to his residences. However, there is no evidence of attacks against the Geneva woman. According to the report, emails show the young woman’s several trips to the USA until the break in 2008, shortly before Epstein was sent to prison. The leaks also mentioned a second ballet dancer with a connection to Switzerland, a planned model shoot in Basel and other Swiss contacts, which suggests a broader network.
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(sda/con)