Swiss Review 6/2019

Swiss Review / November 2019 / No.6 39 Libra: a challenge for Switzerland The cryptocurrency promoted by Facebook is proving a challenge for Switzerland. As the Libra Association is based in Geneva, it is governed by Swiss law. The initial position adopted by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Author- ity is that Libra must adhere to the “highest international standards” in combatingmoney laundering. The Libra pro- ject also contains “bank-like risks”, which means “bank- like regulatory requirements” are needed. (MUL) Successful Swiss peace diplomacy Swiss ambassador Mirko Manzoni has brokered a peace treaty between the rebels and the government inMozam- bique. The treaty is to end a decades-old civil and guer- rilla war that has resulted in almost a million fatalities. This is a major success for Swiss peace diplomacy. Man- zoni will now monitor the peace process as the Personal Envoy of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. By making this appointment, Guterres has foiled Switzer- land’s intention to withdraw from the country and down- grade the occasionally unconventional and independent minded Swiss diplomat. (MUL) Jura conflict rumbles on Forty years after the founding of the canton of Jura, the Jura conflict remains unresolved: the question of whether Moutier wants to switch to Jura or remain with the can- ton of Berne has been raised again. In 2017, the town voted in favour of switching canton, albeit by a very small mar- gin. However, the Berne administrative court has now re- jected the vote; one of the reasons for its ruling was the excessive propaganda by officials during the voting cam- paign. The pro-Jura lobby is now urgently calling for an- other vote. (MUL) Two mothers – and a leading case A court in Bern made a significant ruling in September when it ruled that a woman had to paymaintenance to her former partner. The case concerned two women living to- gether as a couple and who conceived a child through a sperm donation. When the relationship broke down, the mother of the child unsuccessfully claimed maintenance from her ex-partner. The court ruled that same-sex par- ents in a registered partnership must also pay mainte- nance for any shared children following separation. The ruling thus has far-reaching implications for same-sex parents. (MUL) Nobel Prize for two Swiss astrophysicists This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has been jointly awarded, with one half going to James Peebles (USA/Canada) and the other to Swiss scientists Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stock- holm decided to honour Queloz and Mayor “for contribu- tions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe News and Earth’s place in the cosmos”. In 1995, the duo detected the first planet outside our solar system, an exoplanet, or- biting a Sun-like star called 51 Pegasi. Their discovery rev- olutionised astronomy and initiated the field of research into exoplanets. Over 4,000 exoplanets have since been found. The star 51 Pegasi now goes by the fitting name of Helvetios. (MUL) Dual national loses Swiss citizenship September saw Switzerland strip a dual national of his Swiss citizenship for the first-ever time. The person in ques- tion – a 34-year-old Ticino man who also held a Turkish passport –was sentenced to prison two years ago for spread- ing propaganda on behalf of a branch of the al-Qaeda ter- ror network and for helping to send two jihadists to the Syr- ian-Iraqi war zone. By revoking his citizenship, the federal government invoked a never-before-used legal provision that says that individuals whose conduct is seriously detri- mental to Switzerland’s national interests and securitymay have their Swiss nationality withdrawn. (MUL) Switzerland drops one place in the WEF rankings Switzerland continues to lose its competitive edge, accord- ing to the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report. It has dropped one place to fifth in the rankings. Singapore now tops the table, followed by the USA. Switzerland was rated the world’s most competi- tive country back in 2017. (MUL)