The long-standing tax dispute between the US and Swiss banks has finally come to an end after more than 15 years. Pictet, a private bank based in Geneva, has become the last major financial institution to admit to helping US clients hide their money from the tax authorities. According to the US Department of Justice, Pictet has acknowledged assisting US customers in keeping $5.6 billion on 1,637 accounts hidden from the American tax authorities. As part of the settlement, Pictet will pay $123 million to the US, with $39 million being the fine and the remaining amount consisting of profits and compensation. This agreement follows a similar pattern to those reached by other Swiss banks. In other news, music streaming provider Spotify has announced that it will be laying off approximately 1,500 employees, which accounts for 17 percent of its workforce. This marks the third round of layoffs this year, following the dismissal of 600 employees in January and another 200 in June. Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, explained that the company had expanded its workforce in 2020 and 2021 due to low capital costs. However, he acknowledged that this had led to decreased efficiency and stated that further, albeit smaller, cuts were being considered in the next two years. Despite the layoffs, Spotify reported profits on Monday, thanks to price increases for its streaming services and a rise in subscribers across all regions. The company projects that the number of monthly listeners will reach 601 million in the last quarter. Meanwhile, driven by the expectation of declining interest rates, the DAX, the German stock index, reached a new all-time high on Tuesday. It rose by 0.78 percent to 16,533.87 points, surpassing the previous record set at the end of July. The DAX has experienced a 9.5 percent increase in value in November alone and has risen by 13 percent since its low point in October. The main reason behind the recent surge in buying has been the hope that central banks in the Eurozone and the US have completed their interest rate hikes. Investors are anticipating a shift towards rate cuts in 2024, which is expected to provide a boost to the economy after a noticeable decline in inflationary pressures. Central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, have raised interest rates in response to rapid inflation, which was triggered in part by the increase in energy prices following the Russian attack on Ukraine. However, inflation has since significantly decreased in the Eurozone as well, with consumer prices in November being 2.4 percent higher than the same month last year, compared to a 10.1 percent increase a year ago. The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised its interest rates significantly since the summer of 2022 but has recently left them unchanged.

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