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Is Switzerland losing its place in the world?
After a year of tumult, some are warning that a system built on neutrality, consensus and direct democracy is not moving fast enough.
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Some have said that Switzerland should be "very worried - even paranoid" that global investment pressures and slow political decision-making threaten its competitiveness.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mercedes Ruehl
It was a remarkably blunt public warning from the top of Switzerland’s biggest bank. UBS chair Colm Kelleher declared in November that Switzerland was “losing its lustre” and had reached a “crossroads with major challenges”.
As evidence, he cited fierce competition in wealth management, US tariffs that have hit pharmaceuticals and other export sectors, and a regulatory environment that he regards as increasingly out of sync with more liberal regimes.
