Aurelia Butler

ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank’s supervisory board is in the final stages of deciding its candidate to replace outgoing Chairman Thomas Jordan, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.The Bank Council is expected soon to nominate the successor to Jordan, who steps down in September after 12 years leading the central bank through major challenges including the fall of bank Credit Suisse and a sharp appreciation in the Swiss franc.Two sources who asked not to be named said the process to fill one of the best-paid jobs in central banking – with a 1.3 million Swiss francs ($1.5 million) compensation package last year – was almost complete, with interviews already finished.The Bank Council, which must present its candidate to the Swiss cabinet for approval, said it did not comment on the search process or on rumours. SNB Vice Chairman Martin Schlegel is seen as the most likely successor, with 16 out of 18 economists polled by Reuters expecting the 47-year-old to get the job.”Schlegel is seen as the leading candidate. Having deep knowledge of the SNB and Swiss financial markets is clearly an advantage,” said Stefan Gerlach, chief economist at EFG Bank and a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Ireland.Schlegel started his SNB career in 2003 and worked in the research department, which was then headed by Jordan, who under the rules has no role in choosing his successor. “I was Thomas Jordan’s intern,” Schlegel told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper in 2019. “And somehow I still am.”Analysts expect no change to the SNB’s monetary policy, which targets inflation at 0-2%, and preventing large fluctuations in the franc’s value.But the newcomer will not have an easy time, having to reduce the big payments the SNB is making to commercial banks – 7.4 billion francs last year – after interest rates turned positive. They will also have to decide what to do with the SNB’s huge balance sheet, which caused a 133 billion franc loss in 2022.”A central bank cannot go bankrupt but big losses could have a negative effect on the SNB’s credibility, which is the most important asset for a central bank,” said Sarah Lein, an economist at the University of Basel.”It is going to be a challenging legacy for whoever takes over.”The debate between government and regulators over new banking regulations, following questions whether the SNB could have done more in the run-up to the Credit Suisse crash, will also have to be negotiated by the new chairman.If Schlegel is promoted, it would leave a vacancy on the SNB’s three-member rate-setting governing council, alongside former Federal Reserve Bank of New York executive Antoine Martin, who joined in January.The SNB is under pressure to pick a woman, especially after Andrea Maechler, the only previous female member, left in 2023.Celine Widmer, a federal lawmaker for the left-leaning Social Democrats, said it was time for a female leader of the SNB, with Beatrice Weder di Mauro – a former economic adviser to the German government’s panel of economic advisers – seen as a possible candidate.Weder di Mauro declined to comment to Reuters.”Our national bank is one of the most powerful institutions in Switzerland. From a gender equality perspective, it’s absolutely crucial that women are represented,” said Widmer.According to the SNB, candidates must have an “impeccable reputation”, expertise in “monetary, banking and financial issues,” Swiss citizenship and live in the country.”I don’t have great hope that a woman will be elected as chairwoman,” said Widmer. “However, it would be completely unacceptable if there were no women on the governing board.”($1 = 0.8953 Swiss francs) More

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The economy, migration and international conflicts were the top concerns for voters in the European Union election, data from the bloc’s biggest member countries suggested on Monday.Provisional results in the European Parliament election on Sunday night showed gains for nationalist and euro-sceptic parties that campaigned on tickets including clamp-downs on migration, citizens’ economic woes and scrapping green policies.”Improving the economy and reducing inflation” ranked highest among citizens asked what was the most important thing influencing their vote, in a survey by polling platform Focaldata, shared with Reuters.”International conflict and war” was the second most important concern, followed by “immigration and asylum seekers”, in the poll of 6,000 citizens in the EU’s five biggest countries by population – Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland – plus Sweden.The survey was done on June 6th, the day voting began in the EU Parliament election.Respondents placed “acting on climate change” fifth on the list of issues influencing their vote, behind “reducing inequality”, which ranked fourth.Climate change was ranked highest by respondents who said they planned to vote for Green parties. Europe’s Green parties were among the biggest losers in the EU election, with initial results suggesting they would lose 18 seats to end up with 53 EU lawmakers.But even among respondents planning to vote for the parties in the EU Parliament’s far-right Identity and Democracy group, which has opposed EU green measures, 58% said climate change was “very important” or “somewhat important” to them in deciding how to vote.In France, Italy and Poland, voters said economic concerns were the main thing influencing their vote, with immigration in second place in France, and war, the number two concern in Italy and Spain.German respondents ranked “immigration and asylum seekers” as their top concern, followed by wars, and then economic concerns. More

HAVANA (Reuters) – Russian tourist Serguei Boyaryshnic wandered in awe among the pastel-colored buildings and cobblestone streets of Old Havana on a weekday morning, his family in tow.”We had heard a lot about Cuba. Our countries have been friends for years,” said the 36-year-old Moscow resident, who had joined a small tour group. “We love everything about it.”Cuba has recently begun offering perks to entice visitors like Boyaryshnic from allied countries such as Russia and China as it struggles to revive a stagnant tourism sector still struggling to recover from the pandemic.That has meant more and sometimes direct flights from Russia and China, the elimination of visa requirements for Chinese visitors and Cuba’s recent decision to accept Russia’s Mir payment cards, one of only a handful of countries to join Moscow’s alternative to Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA). That strategy has paid early dividends. More than 66,000 Russians visited the Caribbean island in the first three months of the year, state-run Cuban media reported, double that of the same period in 2023. The Russian visitors are one of Cuba’s few tourism bright spots, however. Stiff U.S. sanctions imposed by former president Donald Trump contributed to a sharp reduction in U.S. visitors and arrivals from many European countries have also dropped off this year, state data shows. Cuba’s bet on distant countries may not make up for the overall visitor decline, said Paolo Spadoni, an associate professor at Augusta University and expert on Cuban tourism. A trip from Beijing, with layovers, for example, can require 24 hours or more of travel. “It’s a long shot,” said Spadoni. “(Chinese and Russian visitors) may provide some relief in the short term, but it’s very unlikely that they will make up for the lost contingent of European and American visitors.”That means Cuba is unlikely to meet its goal of attracting 3.2 million visitors in 2024, Spadoni said. He estimates the island will receive between 2.6 million and 2.7 million tourists this year.On a recent weekday morning, Old Havana – a U.N. World Heritage site and one of Latin America’s most famed tourist hotspots – was eerily quiet. Signs of an ailing industry are everywhere. Hotel lobbies and restaurants, once popular with foreigners, are all but barren. White-sand beaches see few international visitors. And at Havana’s airport, taxi drivers complain they often wait all day for a single client.For Migdalia Gonzalez, a 55-year-old street vendor in Old Havana, the situation couldn’t be worse. She has noticed more Russian and Chinese tourists than in years past, but neither were fans of the empanada pastries she sells.”Tourist activity here has hit rock bottom,” she said.  More

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