Why Swiss residents rent instead of own, how the pro-life movement is gaining ground in Switzerland and more in our roundup of Swiss news from September 2 – 6.

Sberbank’s Swiss branch was severely restricted and scrutinized by regulators after the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Geneva business buys Swiss branch of Russian bank

The Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank this week was sold to Geneva’s m3 Groupe – a move which frees the bank from intense supervision from Swiss regulators. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Swiss authorities restricted the bank from paying money to sanctioned individuals or businesses. Now the bank will operate under the name TradeXBank and specialize in commodities trading. The bank made a profit of about 25 million Swiss francs in 2021, with revenues around 3 billion francs. Although non-sanctioned clients have withdrawn about 1.5 billion francs in recent weeks, the bank is “already one of the 20 largest Swiss banks,” according to m3 Groupe’s chair Abdallah Chatila. The Swiss-Lebanese businessman coordinated the sale with U.S. businessman Stephen Lynch, who now owns a 10 percent stake in TradeXBank. Read more.

Switzerland: A country of tenants

Writing in The Swiss Review recently, local Simon Thönen puts forth nine hypotheses why Swiss residents overwhelmingly rent their residences over own – a trend that is not seen in the rest of Europe. After speaking with a handful of experts, Thönen asserts that renting combats Switzerland’s urban sprawl, renting is less expensive in Switzerland than buying, and that renting trends are in line with Switzerland’s prosperity. While home ownership is the highest in Albania and Romania (at around 96 percent), home ownership in Switzerland varies from 15 percent in Geneva to 54 percent in Appenzell. Read more.

Pro-life movement gaining popularity in Switzerland

SWI swissinfo.ch this week takes a deep look into the many ways the anti-abortion movement is gaining ground in Switzerland – a trend that is being seen throughout Europe. One activist, Dominik Müggler, has been the man behind setting up eight “baby boxes” or discreet locations where mothers can give up unwanted newborns. Two parliamentarians from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party are collecting signatures to hold a voter referendum on an initiative called “Sleep on it,” or requiring women to wait 24 hours before pursuing an abortion. A second proposal is banning all abortions as soon as the “fetus can breathe outside the uterus” – meaning around the 30-week mark or later. Read more.

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