Switzerland

This week’s overview includes updates from the EBRD, Degroof Petercam, Solidum and Lighthouse Canton.

Central banks worldwide will need to face the fact that pressure on prices will remain high for the coming years and that inflation dynamics will continue to be clouded by uncertainty, Switzerland’s central bank chief has told his colleagues in Jackson Hole. The Swiss central bank also prides itself in working with a narrow mandate that is not influenced by political considerations.

Switzerland, long a place for Russian oligarchs to park their money, announced Monday it would set aside its long-standing and deeply-rooted tradition of neutrality in order to freeze Russian financial assets in the country, as the fast-moving international reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. In so doing, it joined the European Union and a growing list of countries attempting to penalise Russia, as Luxembourg drew its financial sector’s attention to several EU sanctions measures.

Luxembourg-based Quintet Private Bank  has opened a branch in Zurich, Switzerland. The opening follows the acquisition of the local Bank am Bellevue, the asset management arm of Bellevue Group AG, and the approval of the transaction by the regulatory authorities.