Syz the moment

The UK’s biggest seller of Rolex watches lost nearly a third of its value on Friday after the Swiss brand bought Bucherer AG, taking its first major step into retailing. Watches of Switzerland Group Plc shares fell as much as 30%, wiping out almost £500 million ($629 million) in market capitalization. Rolex unveiled the surprise move to buy Bucherer late Thursday, prompting analysts to question what the deal means for Watches of Switzerland’s future relationship with the brand. Peel Hunt’s Jonathan Pritchard noted that Rolex accounts for half of the company’s sales, and cut his rating on the stock to hold from buy. Rolex executives assured the UK’s biggest retailer of the brand that it will continue to be allocated watches by the same distribution system, Watches of Switzerland Chief Executive Officer Brian Duffy said in an interview. Source: Bloomberg

Swiss Example

UBS on Friday said that it has ended a 9 billion Swiss franc ($10.27 billion) loss protection agreement and a 100 billion Swiss franc publicly liquidity backstop that were put in place by the Swiss government when it took over rival Credit Suisse in March. UBS said the decision followed a “comprehensive assessment” of Credit Suisse’s non-core assets that were covered by the liquidity support measures. Credit Suisse also fully repaid the emergency liquidity assistance loan of 50 billion Swiss francs to the Swiss National Bank in March, as Credit Suisse teetered after a collapse in shareholder and investor confidence. “These measures, which were created under emergency law to preserve financial stability, will thus cease to exist, and the Confederation and taxpayers will no longer bear any risks arising from these guarantees,” the Swiss government said in a statement Friday. “Furthermore, the Confederation earned receipts of around CHF 200 million on the guarantees.”

Switzerland is way ahead of peers in the ranking. US comes next Source: HolgerZ

Source: World of statistics

Swiss inflation slowed to the lowest rate in one and a half years, testing the determination of SNB officials who have signaled that a further tightening step in September is likely.
Consumer prices rose 1.6% in July from a year earlier, down from 1.7% the previous month.
Source: Bloomberg, Swiss Fed statistical office

Swiss manufacturing activity plummeted at the start of the third quarter, with PMI dropping to 38.5 points in July from 44.90 in June. While the gauge has been below the vital threshold of 50 since the start of the year, this is the worst reading since 2009.
Source: Bloomberg, Credit Suisse

A parliamentary investigation into the collapse of Credit Suisse will keep its files closed for 50 years, according to a parliamentary committee document, a level of secrecy that has triggered concern among Swiss historians. The document means the investigating commission would hand over its files to the Swiss Federal Archives after a longer gap than the usual 30 years to ensure high levels of confidentiality apply to the investigation, which has generated huge public interest. The investigation will focus on the activities of the Swiss government, financial regulator and central bank in the run up to the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS in March. The investigation is only the fifth of its kind in the country's modern history and the committee of lawmakers conducting it has sweeping powers to call on the Swiss cabinet, finance ministry and other state bodies. "After the completion of the investigation, the files shall be handed over to the Federal Archives and shall be subject to an extended protection period of 50 years," the committee said in a strategy paper outlining its communication policy. Source: Reuters