Hello,

Something weird happened this summer. The Swiss discovered that hosting international events wasn’t the financial apocalypse they’d been warned about. Better yet: they actually enjoyed it. The Women’s Euro? Packed stadiums. Eurovision in Basel? A money-making machine that made the public accounts dance. For a country that’s spent 30 years rejecting anything remotely resembling an international event, this feels like a Copernican revolution.

The funniest part? For decades, we were sold the full disaster package: too expensive, too polluting, too complicated. The same arguments we always hear whenever a slightly bold decision is on the table. But here’s the thing — if you look at the Women’s Euro numbers, not only did it not sink public finances, it actually sparked a pretty nice economic boost. Full hotels, packed restaurants, and ticket sales that shattered projections.

What’s fascinating is how a country can change its mind once it stops listening to doomsayers and tries things for itself. The Swiss realized they could host stuff without the country collapsing. Even better — they found out they were actually good at it. In the end, maybe that’s the real revolution: stopping the reflexive no-saying, and realizing you can sometimes say yes without the sky falling. A lesson that might come in handy elsewhere — especially when it comes to economic reforms we’ve been dodging for the past 20 years out of sheer inertia.

Have a great week,
M. Hantale 🧀

Top Stories

• 🇪🇺 Trade – A last-minute agreement between the EU and the US sets tariffs on European exports at 15%, ending the trade war.
• 🇫🇷 Cycling – Tadej Pogacar dominated the 2025 Tour de France without a rival, but Wout van Aert soloed to victory in a rainy final stage in Paris.
• 🇷🇺 Talks – Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for another round of negotiations, but remain firm on their respective demands, ruling out any major breakthrough.
• 🇩🇪 Politics – The fight against the AfD is ramping up, with some parties calling for its exclusion from political life “to protect democracy.”
• 🇹🇭 Conflict – Thailand and Cambodia, after four days of deadly clashes that left 34 dead and 200K displaced, begin peace talks in Kuala Lumpur under ASEAN mediation.

Economy & Finance

• 🌍 Multinationals – Since 2017, economic and geopolitical uncertainty has cost $320B in profits to 3,500 major global companies.
• 🇺🇸 Rates – Trump expresses confidence that the Fed will start cutting rates soon, after a “very positive” meeting with Jerome Powell.
• 🇷🇺 Rates – The Bank of Russia has cut its key rate for the second time in a row.
• 🇷🇺 Sanctions – 26 Swiss companies have been sanctioned for circumventing the embargo on Russia, among nearly 700 reported suspect cases since 2022.
• 🇺🇸 IMF – IMF’s No. 2 Gita Gopinath will leave at the end of August to return to Harvard, leaving Trump to choose her successor.
• 🇺🇸 Trade – The US and Japan struck a deal setting a 15% tariff on Japanese imports.
• 🌍 Cybersecurity – Cyberattacks surged 22% across Europe, but Switzerland remained below average with only a 9% rise.

Switzerland

• 🇨🇭 Jobs – 83% of Swiss SMEs report difficulty hiring skilled workers, while unqualified profiles remain easy to fill.
• 🇨🇭 Healthcare – Several regional hospitals in Vaud face subsidy cuts of up to 4.5M CHF, threatening closures as early as 2026.
• 🇨🇭 Transport – A new ferry line between Corsier and Bellevue has been approved, reducing travel time to 15 minutes from 1.5 hours by road.
• 🇨🇭 Rail – Swiss trains hit a historic record with nearly 6B passenger-km in Q2 2025, confirming rail’s strength and stability.
• 🇨🇭 Housing – Tenant evictions rose by 12% over four years in the Lausanne region, amid rising rents and falling purchasing power.
• 🇨🇭 Real Estate – Geneva’s court has struck down the requirement to plan office-to-housing conversions, deeming it disproportionate.
• 🇨🇭 Weather – Torrential rains and mudslides hit several cantons, causing road closures, evacuations, and emergency responses.
• 🇨🇭 Festival – Despite heavy rain, Geneva’s Lake Parade drew over 10K attendees on Saturday with no incidents.
• 🇬🇧 Cinema – Benedict Cumberbatch will receive an award at the Zurich Film Festival for his career and his role in The Thing With Feathers.
• 🇺🇸 Exile – Swiss actor Carlos Leal is leaving Los Angeles and returning home, disillusioned with the “capitalist and linear” US mindset.
• 🇪🇺 Cheese – The EU rejected Switzerland’s request to protect the name “Emmentaler,” ruling it too generic and broadly regional.

Elsewhere in the World

• 🇲🇩 Corruption – Moldova’s former justice minister has been jailed in Paris, suspected of receiving millions to erase Interpol files and grant asylum to fugitives.
• 🇯🇵 Government – Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba plans to resign at the end of July after losing his coalition’s upper house majority.
• 🇧🇩 Air Crash – A Bangladeshi fighter jet crashed into a school in Dhaka, killing at least 19 and injuring 164, many of them children.
• 🇬🇷 Wildfires – Intense fires continue to ravage the Peloponnese, Euboea, and Kythira, triggering evacuations and international aerial support.
• 🇹🇷 Heatwave – Turkey recorded an all-time high of 50.5°C in Silopi, with 132 weather stations breaking July records.
• 🇧🇷 Politics – A former Brazilian general admitted to plotting to assassinate President Lula as part of Bolsonaro-related coup plans.
• 🇨🇩 Justice – Former DRC president Joseph Kabila is being tried in absentia for war crimes and complicity with the M23 rebel group.

• 🇨🇭 Banking – Julius Baer reported net new inflows of CHF 7.9B in H1 2025, more than double last year’s and 24% above expectations.
• 🇨🇭 Banking – EFG saw its net profit jump 36% to CHF 221M in H1 2025, driven by two acquisitions and a rebound in trading activity despite global volatility.
• 🇨🇭 Asset Management – Vontobel attracted CHF 2B in net new money in Q2, but its net profit declined, triggering a sharp market reaction.
• 🇨🇭 Cosmetics – Givaudan posted CHF 3.86B in H1 2025 revenue, up 3.4%, supported by solid organic growth.
• 🇯🇵 Automotive – Japanese car exports to the US dropped 26.7% in June amid tense tariff negotiations.
• 🇦🇿 Energy – ABB will electrify the Sangachal oil and gas terminal, a 688-hectare complex, to support decarbonization in the Baku region.
• 🇨🇭 Pharma – Lonza raised its full-year guidance after a 17% increase in sales, fueled by growth in pharma outsourcing.
• 🇨🇭 Pharma – Roche saw its H1 revenue rise 4% to CHF 30.9B, driven by new drugs despite a challenging commercial environment.
• 🇨🇭 Food – Nestlé maintained its annual targets despite a 1.8% drop in revenue to CHF 44.2B and a fragile global backdrop.
• 🇨🇭 Security & Inspection – SGS posted H1 revenue of CHF 3.4B and net profit of CHF 509M, up 8.1%.
• 🇨🇭 Agroalimentaire. Nestlé maintient ses objectifs annuels malgré une baisse de 1,8% du chiffre d’affaires à 44,2 Mrd CHF et une conjoncture mondiale fragile.
• 🇨🇭 Sécurité. SGS affiche un chiffre d’affaires semestriel en hausse à 3,4 Mrd CHF et un bénéfice net de 509 Mio CHF (+8,1%).

Not-So-Secret Banking

Swiss banking secrecy is dead — but the financial stability behind it isn’t.

Let’s be honest: when people in France hear “Swiss bank account,” half still picture suitcases full of cash being smuggled into hidden vaults by tuxedoed James Bond types. It’s cute — a nostalgic throwback to the 1970s. But since 2017, Swiss banking secrecy has become as transparent as a glass wall. Automatic information sharing with 38 countries, including France, has turned the old myth into a much more boring reality: opening an account in Geneva today is about as discreet as doing it in Guéret.

And yet, two million Europeans have made the leap. Not to play Arsène Lupin — the French tax authorities will know about your account before your debit card even arrives — but for much more pragmatic reasons. First, stability: while some countries keep reinventing their tax codes depending on who’s in power, Switzerland nurtures a kind of predictability that makes a metronome look erratic. No surprise reforms, no Tuesday-morning taxes created to patch budget holes. Meanwhile, the Swiss franc quietly gains 2 to 3% a year, undisturbed by the drama elsewhere.

Swiss financial expertise isn’t a Hollywood myth either. Since the 16th century, Swiss bankers have elevated wealth management to a minor art form — minor, but devilishly efficient. Multi-currency accounts by default, physical gold holdings, Lombard loans: tools that feel like bureaucratic nightmares elsewhere are standard here. And unlike some banks where your advisor changes every six months due to another internal reshuffle, a Swiss banker typically manages 100 clients. One-third of the industry average. Few enough to remember your name, your goals, and even your distaste for reckless investments.

Then there’s the matter of discretion — not for the fraudster, but for the everyday person who’d rather not have their bank statements circulating near the office coffee machine. In Switzerland, breaching banking secrecy remains a criminal offense. Your account details won’t end up on a desk while an intern makes copies. Maybe that’s the real Swiss luxury: managing your wealth without the whole world hearing about your portfolio shifts.

Of course, it comes at a price. Swiss banking fees are steep, and the 3916 tax form awaits you patiently for French reporting. But for anyone looking for serious geographic diversification — far from miracle solutions and shady « optimizations » — Switzerland offers what others struggle to deliver: consistency. In a world where tax improvisation is a national sport in some countries, that’s already something.

No, opening a Swiss account won’t turn you into a mysterious oligarch. But in a world where predictability is becoming a rare commodity, maybe boring old Switzerland is exactly what we need.

— Mourtaza Asad-Syed