ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss citizens voted on Sunday to impose some of the world’s strictest controls on executive pay, forcing public companies to give shareholders a binding vote on compensation, initial result projections showed.

Claude Longchamp of pollsters Gfs.Bern told Swiss state television early returns in a referendum showed 68 percent backed plans for shareholders to veto executive pay and for a ban on big rewards for new and departing managers.

ZURICH, March 3 (Reuters) – Swiss citizens look set to vote
on Sunday to impose the world’s strictest controls on executive
pay, giving shareholders in public companies a binding vote on
compensation.

Polls suggest a clear majority will back plans to give
shareholders a veto on executive compensation and ban practices
such as big payouts for new hires and departing managers.

ZURICH, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Swiss economic growth slowed in
the fourth quarter but robust domestic consumption kept it
healthier than most analysts had predicted given the weakness of
the neighbouring euro zone.

Demand is being helped along by low unemployment and a high
rate of immigration.

VEVEY, Switzerland (Reuters) – The world’s biggest food company, Nestle SA (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), sees no respite this year from a tough trading environment after sales growth undershot rival Unilever last year as emerging markets like Asia slowed.

Nestle is trying to keep earnings growing in a flagging global economy by focusing on its most profitable food businesses such as infant formula and premium coffee Nespresso.

VEVEY, Switzerland (Reuters) – Nestle SA (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it expected 2013 to be as challenging as 2012 as the world’s biggest food group reported weaker-than-expected quarterly sales growth in Asia and the Americas.

Underlying 2012 sales growth at the maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Maggi soup came in at 5.9 percent for the year, meeting average analyst expectations, and implying a slight recovery from third-quarter growth of some 5 percent.

ZURICH, Feb 13 (Reuters) – The Swiss government announced
steps on Wednesday to try to dampen a housing market boom that
has been fuelled by ultra-low interest rates, immigration and
Switzerland’s appeal as a safe-haven for financial investors.

The government said it is demanding banks hold additional
capital against their mortgage books to restrain an “excessive”
rise in real estate prices and “exorbitant” mortgage debt
because the central bank could not lift interest rates due to
its desire to keep a lid on the strong Swiss franc.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Diageo (DGE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s biggest spirits group, signaled a more reticent acquisition strategy following a recent buying spree, saying it wants to develop its own tequila brand after ending talks to buy a stake in Jose Cuervo.

Diageo will announce details later in the year of its plans for the tequila market after it said last month it would not buy a stake in top-selling brand Jose Cuervo, which has a distribution deal with Diageo due to end in June.

ZURICH, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s economic momentum
slowed by more than expected in January, slipping to its lowest
in eight months as weakness in the euro zone kept a lid on
confidence, a leading indicator showed on Wednesday.

The KOF barometer, a gauge of the economy’s performance in
about six months’ time, fell for the fourth straight month to
1.05 points in January from a revised 1.29 points in December,
missing average analyst expectations for a fall to 1.16.