ZURICH, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Switzerland appointed the man who negotiated UBS AG’s <UBSN.VX> <UBS.N> way out of a bitter U.S. tax row to a new position in international financial and tax matters as it seeks to ditch its tax haven image and defend its interests abroad.

Senior diplomat Michael Ambuehl was the chief Swiss government negotiator in the talks that led UBS to settle a U.S. probe in 2009 into the banking group’s help to wealthy Americans seeking to dodge taxes.

The UBS investigation and a global crackdown on tax havens have put Switzerland, the world’s biggest offshore financial centre, under a negative spotlight and forced it to relax its bank secrecy rules last year as it fought to avoid sanctions.

“We never gave a place for citizens who have become tax fraudsters. That is not in our interest in the past or the future,” Swiss President Doris Leuthard told a news conference on Wednesday after the cabinet agreed Ambuel’s appointment.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis aims to buy the rest of leading eye care firm Alcon for $39.3 billion to reduce reliance on prescription drugs, but is offering minority shareholders a worse deal than major owner Nestle.

The Swiss drugmaker, which bought 25 percent of Alcon in 2008, said on Monday it was exercising an option to buy a further 52 percent from the world’s largest food group for $28.1 billion, boosting its stake to 77 percent.

Novartis, which was widely tipped to snap up the Nestle stake as soon as its option allowed, also aims to buy out the 23 percent held by minority shareholders for $11.2 billion, ending uncertainty over whether or not it would seek full control.

Novartis and rival drugmakers such as GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis are pushing into areas like consumer healthcare and generics as they face the biggest loss of patent protection in history.

ZURICH, Jan 4 (Reuters) – Novartis <NOVN.VX> aims to buy the rest of leading eye care firm Alcon <ACL.N> for $39.3 billion to reduce reliance on prescription drugs, but is offering minority shareholders a worse deal than major owner Nestle <NESN.VX>.

The Swiss drugmaker, which bought 25 percent of Alcon in 2008, said on Monday it was exercising an option to buy a further 52 percent from the world’s largest food group for $28.1 billion, boosting its stake to 77 percent.

Novartis, which was widely tipped to snap up the Nestle stake as soon as its option allowed, also aims to buy out the 23 percent held by minority shareholders for $11.2 billion, ending uncertainty over whether or not it would seek full control.

Novartis and rival drugmakers such as GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> and Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> are pushing into areas like consumer healthcare and generics as they face the biggest loss of patent protection in history.

ZURICH (Reuters) – UBS AG will not sue its former bosses after risky bets on subprime mortgages and a strategy of helping U.S. clients dodge taxes by hiding money in secret accounts brought the Swiss bank to its knees.

Zurich state prosecutors also said they would not open criminal proceedings against UBS employees as there was no evidence of a breach of Swiss law.

UBS said bringing charges would only draw negative attention as the wealth management group seeks a fresh start to win back trust after massive withdrawals by rich clients.

“The board has decided that years of uncertainty about these matters due to litigation … and related negative attention from such action is not in the interest of UBS, its employees, clients and shareholders,” the group said in a statement.

ZURICH, Dec 15 (Reuters) – UBS AG <UBS.N> <UBSN.VX> will not sue its former bosses after risky bets on subprime mortgages and a strategy of helping U.S. clients dodge taxes by hiding money in secret accounts brought the Swiss bank to its knees.

Zurich state prosecutors also said they would not open criminal proceedings against UBS employees as there was no evidence of a breach of Swiss law.

UBS said bringing charges would only draw negative attention as the wealth management group seeks a fresh start to win back trust after massive withdrawals by rich clients.

“The board has decided that years of uncertainty about these matters due to litigation … and related negative attention from such action is not in the interest of UBS, its employees, clients and shareholders,” the group said in a statement.

ZURICH, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Swiss solar industry supplier Meyer Burger is buying 3S Industries in an all-share deal worth about 300 million Swiss francs ($294 million) that should help cut the cost of solar power.

Shares in both companies rallied on Wednesday after the announcement of the friendly deal, which analysts expect to boost Meyer Burger’s profit and increase 3S’s reach into Asia.

Meyer Burger said the deal would create the first firm in the solar industry to cover the whole production process for making solar cells, thus helping it to slash solar power costs.

Meyer Burger, which makes precision saws for slicing silicon wafers, is offering one of its own shares for every 11.2 3S shares, valuing 3S at about 300 million francs based on Meyer Burger’s Tuesday closing price.

The leader of Switzerland’s centrist Christian Democrats (CVP) has apologised  for calling for a ban on new Muslim and Jewish cemeteries, just days after Swiss voters approved a halt to building minarets.“I am sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” CVP leader Christophe Darbellay told the tabloid Blick daily on Friday, adding:  “It was about the principle that we all belong to the same Swiss society … but you can’t explain that in 15 seconds.” (Photo: Christophe Darbellay, 22 Aug 2009/Denis Balibouse)

Darbellay provoked protests when he told local television earlier in the week that Switzerland should not allow the building of separate cemeteries for Jews or Muslims in future.The Conference of European Rabbis criticised his comments on Thursday and said the Swiss minaret ban will fuel xenophobia and risks making Jews the next target of religious intolerance. “We don’t have a situation of the extreme right in Europe attacking Jews because they are content to attack Muslims,” Philip Carmel, the international relations director for the Conference of European Rabbis, told Reuters.“But the Swiss example is classic: it’s not just Muslims who are going to be targeted by the extreme right.”Darbellay has also proposed a ban on the Muslim burqa, or face veil. His comments are seen as a response to the rise of the populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) which campaigned for the minaret ban.

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ZURICH, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The Swiss economy pulled out of recession in the third quarter, growing by 0.3 percent compared to the previous three months, slightly better than average analyst forecasts, data showed on Tuesday.

It was the first time gross domestic product grew since the second quarter of 2008 and came after a contraction of 0.3 percent the previous quarter, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected a quarter-on-quarter median increase of 0.2 percent.

“The results was rather robust and for the first time in five quarters we have positive growth indications, which is encouraging. We expect this will continue,” said Fabian Heller, an economist with Credit Suisse.

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss giant Nestle is scanning the bid battle for Cadbury for a chance it might get back a lucrative U.S. license for its KitKat chocolate bar or pick up gum and candy in a breakup bid.

The world’s largest food company would face big anti-trust hurdles if it launched its own bid for Cadbury, but might scoop up tasty morsels prised from the British confectioner through a tie-up with potential bidder Hershey Co, said sources close to the situation.

“There is potential for Nestle to play kingmaker if it wants to. Hershey could sell KitKat distribution rights back to Nestle to help finance a bid for Cadbury,” said an investment banker who covers the consumer goods industry.

Nestle, the world’s third biggest confectionery player after Mars-Wrigley and Cadbury, has stayed quiet ever since Kraft Foods expressed interest in Cadbury on September 7, but may be tempted to look at alliances if Cadbury’s fate is sealed.

LONDON/ZURICH, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Swiss giant Nestle <NESN.VX> is scanning the bid battle for Cadbury <CBRY.L> for a chance it might get back a lucrative U.S. licence for its KitKat chocolate bar or pick up gum and candy in a breakup bid.

The world’s largest food company would face big anti-trust hurdles if it launched its own bid for Cadbury, but might scoop up tasty morsels prised from the British confectioner through a tie-up with potential bidder Hershey Co <HSY.N>, said sources close to the situation.

“There is potential for Nestle to play kingmaker if it wants to. Hershey could sell KitKat distribution rights back to Nestle to help finance a bid for Cadbury,” said an investment banker who covers the consumer goods industry.

Nestle, the world’s third biggest confectionery player after Mars-Wrigley and Cadbury, has stayed quiet ever since Kraft Foods <KFT.N> expressed interest in Cadbury on Sept. 7, but may be tempted to look at alliances if Cadbury’s fate is sealed. [ID:nGEE5AM14O]