🧀 Safe as Helvetica Cheese

• 🇬🇧 Diplomacy. London and Brussels must examine several options for their future relationship, including freedom of movement, ahead of the bilateral summit on 20 November.
• 🇨🇭 Markets. The SMI reaches a new record at nearly 14,732 points, driven by Novartis, Nestlé and Roche.
• 🇨🇭 Work. Start-ups will be able to organise periods of high activity and recovery more freely, thanks to new rules adopted by the Federal Council.
• 🇨🇭 Brands. Zurich Insurance, Nescafé and Nestlé are among the world's 100 most valued brands, ranking 58th, 70th and 84th respectively.
• 🇦🇲 Climate. Countries gathered at COP17 commit to accelerating the fight against biodiversity erosion and protecting 30% of land and seas by 2030.

Economy & Finance

• 🇨🇭 Growth. Real GDP in French-speaking Switzerland grew by 2.2% in 2025, compared with 1.8% for the country as a whole, bringing its contribution to the Swiss economy to 26.4%.
• 🇨🇭 Jobs. The main collective agreements provide for an average increase of 0.5% in actual wages and 0.8% in minimum wages in 2026.
• 🇫🇷 Jobs. The number of jobseekers without activity rose by 0.9% in the third quarter, to more than 3.3M people, representing 30.4K additional registrations.
• 🇨🇭 Trade. Switzerland and China are modernising their free trade agreement, with the progressive elimination of customs duties on 99.8% of Swiss exports over the next ten years.
• 🇨🇦 Rates. The Bank of Canada raises its policy rate from 2.25% to 2.50%, its first increase since July 2023, and leaves the door open to further tightening amid inflationary pressures.
• 🇫🇷 Tax. France is once again the European country with the highest rate of compulsory levies in 2025, at 46% of GDP, ahead of Denmark and Belgium.
• 🇨🇭 Real Estate. Swiss residential prices rose by 1.7% in the third quarter of 2026, bringing their annual increase to 4.4%, despite already elevated levels.
• 🇪🇺 Raw materials. Eleven EU countries will release 42.6M barrels of oil, including 20.5M of diesel, by the end of January 2027 in an attempt to stabilise prices ahead of winter.
• 🇨🇭 Investment. Swiss funds have attracted more than 32GCHF since January, bringing their assets under management to nearly 2,000GCHF at the end of September 2026.
• 🇨🇭 Investment. The digitalisation of Swiss railway infrastructure will require approximately 7GCHF by 2045, compared to 1GCHF planned in the 2027 budget.
• 🇪🇺 Investment. The EU Council validates its position on the "Inc." status, with online company creation aimed at under 48 hours for less than €100, but more limited rules than planned for start-ups.
• 🇮🇳 Investment. Jio Platforms signs India's largest initial public offering ever, valued at $3.2bn, with the share rising 21% on its first trading day.
• 🇨🇭 Currencies. The Swiss National Bank posted a profit of 44.2bn CHF over the first nine months of 2026, of which nearly 19bn CHF in the third quarter, principally thanks to its investments in foreign currencies.
• 🇫🇷 Rating. Fitch has downgraded France's outlook from stable to negative, whilst maintaining its A+ rating, amid weaker growth, increased deficit and elevated borrowing costs.
• 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇫🇷 Commodities. ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell and TotalEnergies recorded $56.3bn in adjusted profits in the third quarter, boosted by soaring fuel prices.

Switzerland

• 🇨🇭 Policy. Swiss voters will decide on 28 February 2027 on reviving nuclear power, ten years after the ban on building new power stations.
• 🇨🇭 Diplomacy. Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis received a favourable reception regarding the reopening of Switzerland's diplomatic office in Pyongyang, following two hours of talks with Choe Son-hui.
• 🇨🇭 Defense. Switzerland will receive the first components of an American Patriot air defence system by mid-2027, including a radar unit and a launcher.
• 🇨🇭 Security. An apparently criminal fire destroyed the Brügger & Thomet site in Thun where LBD 40s were manufactured and stored, with no injuries reported.
• 🇨🇭 Solidarity. Geneva makes permanent the free delivery of groceries to homes, once a week, for residents aged 65 and over, with an extension to recipients of a care allowance.
• 🇨🇭 Real Estate. The Tilia Tower, the tallest residential tower in the canton of Vaud, was inaugurated in Prilly-Malley with its 85m height, 222 rental flats and 160 coliving units.
• 🇨🇭 Mobility. A new 150-metre bridge has opened in Visletto, in Ticino, restoring the permanent road link with the upper Maggia valley, nearly two years after its destruction by a deadly storm.
• 🇨🇭 Mobility. Geneva airport will open a direct route to São Paulo this spring, whilst flights to Montreal will be increased.
• 🇨🇭 Innovation. The Fribourg SME Condis, specialised in securing electrical networks, wins the SVC Suisse romande Prize 2026.
• 🇨🇭 Climate. The Federal Council adopts a climate change adaptation strategy for 2026-2031, with 56 measures aimed in particular at limiting risks linked to heat waves.
• 🇨🇭 Climate. Authorities are maintaining security measures around the Weisshorn glacier, whose persistent instability could trigger further rockfalls. The residential district of Randa is not under threat.
• 🇨🇭 Tourism. Geneva's Jet d'Eau will be out of service for approximately five weeks for its annual maintenance, with a return scheduled for 4 December.
• 🇨🇭 Media. Heidi.news and Le Temps rank second and third among quality Romandy media outlets, whilst the SRG dominates the Fög's national ranking.
• 🇨🇭 Culture. To commemorate the Constellation fire, two memorial spaces will be installed in Crans-Montana, including one at the site of the bar where families will be able to inscribe the names of those who perished.
• 🇨🇭 Culture. The Geneva Film Festival pays tribute to Indian filmmaker Mira Nair for her entire career, with a selection of her works and a meeting on 31 October.

Elsewhere in the World

• 🇧🇪 Policy. Prime Minister Bart De Wever submitted his resignation to the King following the failure of negotiations on the 2027 budget, but the sovereign suspended his decision and tasked him with continuing the discussions.
• 🇵🇱 Policy. President Karol Nawrocki convenes Polish parties to attempt to defuse the institutional crisis, following police intervention at the Constitutional Court in Warsaw.
• 🇻🇪 Elections. Back in Venezuela, opposition figure María Corina Machado supports the American plan to organise free elections as early as next year and ensure an "irreversible" democratic transition.
• 🇸🇪 Government. The leader of the Centre Party has renounced forming a government, owing to a lack of agreement amongst the parties of the centre-left majority, leaving it to the President of Parliament to decide on the next steps.
• 🇺🇸 Justice. Former FBI director James Comey has been indicted for ordering the transmission of classified defence information to a journalist in 2016.
• 🇬🇧 Rights. 160 public figures denounce British counter-terrorism law following the announced withdrawal of writer Sally Rooney's books, due to her support for Palestine Action.
• 🇷🇺 Rights. After more than thirty years of investigations into corruption and abuses of power, Novaya Gazeta announces the end of its operations, marking a further decline of the free press in Russia.
• 🇾🇪 Rights. A UN employee is reported to have died under torture following two years of detention by the Houthis in Yemen, where more than 70 UN personnel members are reportedly still being held.
• 🇪🇬 Rights. Egyptian courts order the closure of independent news site Mada Masr and impose a fine of 3m pounds on its editor-in-chief Lina Attalah, who was detained after the hearing.
• 🇦🇺 Defense. Australia is studying the purchase of Israeli and American interceptor missiles to deploy its own anti-missile shield in the early 2030s.
• 🇬🇷 Security. Three men have been arrested in Athens for stealing gas pipes, an intervention that allegedly caused a deadly explosion that killed six people.
• 🇩🇪 Protests. Nearly 10,000 people marched in Saxony at the call of the Gen Z movement, notably to demand more funding for education and mental health, as well as less militarisation.
• 🇺🇸 Disasters. A business jet travelling from Texas to the Bahamas crashed near Palm Beach following a sudden descent, killing all nine people on board.
• 🇦🇷 Economy. The IMF praises Javier Milei's reforms and plans to unlock a new aid package of $900M, bringing the total amounts disbursed to Argentina to nearly $14B under a $20B programme.

• 🇨🇭 Pharma. Swiss biotech Atlas Bio raises $12.5M to develop artificial intelligence capable of simulating clinical trials and reducing a 70% failure rate in phase II.
• 🇨🇭 Pharma. Novartis returns to growth in the third quarter, with revenue up 4% to $14.5bn (12bn CHF), following the peak impact of generics.
• 🇨🇭 Banking. UBS sees its pre-tax profit surge by 27% year-on-year to $3.59bn in the third quarter, whilst net inflows of capital under wealth management reach $55.1bn.
• 🇨🇭 Transport. Stadler Rail secures a new order for 21 trains for Finland, where its regional trains will be adapted to winter conditions and will be able to accommodate up to 700 passengers.
• 🇨🇦 Transport. SITA acquires Flightscape from CAE for $500M, strengthening its presence in aviation technology solutions.
• 🇨🇭 Innovation. Lausanne-based deeptech company Sonexos raises €5.4m to industrialise its technology for reducing low-frequency noise nuisances, particularly in fans, compressors and data centres.

SMI Index

📅 Data as of 2026-11-03 09:58

Forex CHF

📅 Data as of 2026-11-03 09:58

The Franc Stays at Par