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ZURICH — Supporters of a radical scheme to upend Switzerland’s financial system have made an 11th hour appeal to voters to approve a proposal to strip banks of the power to create new money through lending.

Postal voting, which accounts for the majority of participation in Swiss referenda, is under way in the so-called Sovereign Money initiative, with the polls closing on Sunday.

Contrary to common belief, most money in the world is not produced by central banks, but is instead created by commercial lenders when they lend beyond the deposits they hold for savers.

This arrangement, underpinned by the belief that most debts will be repaid, has been a cornerstone of the global capitalist system, but opponents say it is unstable because the new money created exceeds economic growth. 

Swiss campaigners want to replace this approach, where banks regularly roll over their financing of loans, with a system of “Vollgeld” — which can be translated to “real money”. 

“A large majority of people in Switzerland don’t want commercial banks to produce money out of nothing and believe only the SNB should have the right to create money in Switzerland — this is their chance to make this happen,” said Raffael Wuethrich, one of the campaign’s leaders said.

The Sovereign Money initiative would allow banks only to give credit to customers using funds they have from long term customer deposits, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) or money markets.

“Our opponents have tried to make people afraid and insecure about our plans, but when people find these fears are unfounded they are coming over to our side,” said Wuethrich.

If the Swiss vote “yes”, the law introducing “real money” would be written into the country’s constitution. It would then fall to the government to work out how to introduce it within three years. The referendum is in part the result of growing frustration in traditionally banker-friendly Switzerland with the financial sector, after the government bailed out the country’s biggest lender UBS in 2008.

This, along with rock bottom interest rates for savers and sky-high pay packets for finance executives, has opened the way for a vote which could turn back the clock 100 years to when the SNB created most of the money used in the country.

“The banks have too much influence in Switzerland,” said Julian Baecker, a post-graduate student. “They have a lot of power without responsibilities. For example, the taxpayer had to pay for their mistakes during the financial crisis.

“I think the Swiss people are more critical about banks than they used to be and something needs to change.”

One sovereign money supporter questioned why banks have the right to create money. “This kind of privilege often promotes riskier business models,” said Marti Alder.

If voters back the campaign, Switzerland would become the world’s first country to adopt a sovereign money system, where the SNB will be the only authority allowed to create money in the country and banks will be barred from creating money when they make loans.

One early poll had shown 44 per cent of voters backing the initiative but support has slipped to 34 per cent ahead of the vote. 

Sovereign money is full-value legal tender which is created and brought into circulation by public institutions, typically a central bank, rather than commercial banks. 

Currently, coins and banknotes are the only forms of sovereign money available to the public, although the term also applies to deposits held on site by the commercial banks with the central bank. 

Only around ten per cent of the Swiss money supply is created by the SNB at present, compared with 90 per cent created electronically by the commercial banks, the campaigners say.

Their proposal aims to guard against bank runs by giving customers access to “full money” accounts — which will be off the commercial banks’ balance sheets and backed with central bank money.

Opponents have said the plan could lead to higher bank charges, strangle access to credit and weigh on Switzerland’s economic growth. 

The initiative has been opposed by the Swiss government and the SNB, which has described the plan as an “unnecessary and dangerous experiment”.

The fact that a referendum is taking place has unnerved some investors. 

“It will be a catastrophe on every level,” said Marie Owens Thomsen, global head of economic research at Indosuez Wealth Management, commenting on the possibility of a “yes” vote.

But campaigners remain undeterred.

“Of course the banks and financial institutions are against changing the system because they benefit overwhelmingly from it at present,” the campaign’s Wuethrich told Reuters.

“We hope that people can see through the scaremongering and decide to have real money in their accounts instead of a token from the banks,” he said.

Investors have been buying up insurance against swings in the Swiss franc and the shares of the biggest Swiss lenders to hedge against turbulence if the vote is approved.

“Switzerland would be hit by a monetary revolution. We talk about banks, but the real concern is the whole economy,” the Swiss Bankers Association Chief Economist Martin Hess said. 

Ratings agency S&P Global said a win for sovereign money scheme could result in uncertainty among banks and investors.

“If we see increasing funding risk or investors questioning banks’ ability to adapt to a potential new regime, a transition to a sovereign money system could have an immediate effect on outstanding Swiss bank ratings,” it said in a report published this week.

“In the long term, the introduction of a sovereign money system could weaken Swiss banks’ profitability and raise questions about their future business model.”

WASHINGTON — Washington and Beijing have reached a deal to ease sanctions that brought Chinese smartphone maker ZTE to the brink of collapse, the US Commerce Department announced on Thursday.

The agreement also follows a reported offer by Beijing to ramp up purchases of American goods and thereby drive down the yawning trade deficit between the world’s two largest economies — moving part-way towards meeting a key demand of US President Donald Trump in ongoing trade talks.

ZTE will pay a $1 billion penalty, and put another $400 million in escrow to cover possible future violations before being stricken from a sanctions list.

Under the deal, the Chinese giant will also have to change its entire board of directors and retain outside legal compliance specialists who will report to the Commerce Department for ten years.

Total US penalties imposed on ZTE now amount to $2.3 billion, according to the US Commerce Department.

In April, the Chinese group was cut off from US technology products for violating US sanctions against North Korea and Iran — measures which threatened to put ZTE out of business.

Washington lawmakers were indignant last month after Trump offered to rescue ZTE as a personal favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping — even though the company is widely considered a liability for US national cybersecurity.

‘A pretty strict settlement’ 

Democrat and Republican senators denounced Trump’s offer to ease the ZTE sanctions as an offer that imposed punitive measures the company had already disregarded once before, while garnering no true concessions from China.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Thursday the deal was tough and would keep ZTE on a short leash.

“This is a pretty strict settlement. The strictest and largest settlement fine that has ever been brought by the Commerce Department against any violator of export controls.”

Several US lawmakers have warned against easing sanctions on ZTE, citing national security concerns.

The news comes as Trump presses ahead with plans to impose as much as $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports to punish Beijing for its alleged theft of American technology and know-how.

Washington and Beijing have pursued a halting series of trade talks, with Trump demanding a $200 billion reduction in its yawning trade deficit with China.

Ross told CNBC the ZTE deal was an enforcement matter that was unrelated to the trade talks, which he has led. 

But it came shortly after Chinese officials offered to buy an additional $70 billion in US goods to cut the trade deficit, moving towards meeting one of Trump’s central demands on trade.

CAIRO —  While Egypt's economy is displaying the green shoots of recovery, citizens are enduring relentless price rises covering everything from water to metro tickets.

At Cairo's El Zahraa metro station, nestled among red-brick apartment blocks in a middle income neighbourhood, 46-year-old Omm Mohamed laments the government's economic overhaul.

"The burden has become too heavy, it has become unbearable," she said, dressed in a black full-length dress with her hair covered.

Standing alongside her teenage son, Mohamed said she was especially worried about her daughter who takes the metro to work at a private hospital.

"The rise in ticket prices has hit her especially, with her modest salary," she said.

On top of the metro fare, Mohamed's daughter is one of many Cairo residents who has to take tuk-tuks and microbuses to work. 

On May 11 a uniform two-pound ($0.11) metro ticket was replaced with fares ranging from three to seven pounds. Barely a year ago, fares cost just one pound.

The latest fare rises brought street protests last month.

Around 30 people were arrested in the May protest, with some later freed.

'The burden will double' 

Egypt's austerity policies are tied to $12 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund, secured by Cairo to ease a fiscal crisis that saw its deficit balloon to 12.5 per cent of GDP in 2015/16.

On Saturday, the government announced a hike in drinking water prices that in some cases exceed 45 per cent.

Further measures are to come, with energy prices due to rise in July.

"The burden will double," said Mohamed.

Seeking to cut the country's deficit, authorities have also introduced a value-added tax, cut fuel subsidies and increased electricity prices.

Officials are repeatedly warning of more electricity price hikes and a reduction in fuel subsidies, prompting media outlets to prepare the public for the changes.

Last week state-run Al Ahram newspaper ran a front page about the price of oil, stating fuel subsidies cost the public purse 104 billion pounds annually. 

The government has yet to announce the scale of the next price increase and cut in subsidies.

But Alia El Mahdi, an economics professor at Cairo University, said the metro protest set off "alarm bells".

"The Egyptian people have suffered many shocks in the last two years in consecutive price increases," she said.

The metro ticket change alone saw transport costs jump from five or six per cent of poor Egyptians' total spending to 20 per cent, Mahdi explained.

'Sacrifices' required 

The rising costs come against a backdrop of economic recovery, with GDP growth increasing in the past year from 4.2 per cent to 5.2 per cent. 

Meanwhile, inflation eased to 12.9 per cent in April, after reaching a peak of 34.2 per cent last July.

The unemployment rate dropped to 10.6 per cent in the first three months of 2018, against 12 per cent a year earlier, according to the government's statistics bureau.

Despite the positive figures for the national economy, price rises have disproportionately affected low earners according to Omar Adly from the American University in Cairo.

"There are other means to reduce the budget deficit which could reduce the pressures on the poor and lower middle income-class," such as tax rises, said Adly, a development professor.

But the IMF contends that the bitter reform medicine will benefit everyone.

"While the process has required sacrifices in the short-term, the reforms were critical to stabilise the economy," the lender said on May 17.

Such an economic overhaul will "lay the foundation for strong and sustained growth that will improve living standards for all Egyptians", the IMF added.

LONDON — Britain’s government on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to building a third runway at London Heathrow, Europe’s biggest airport by passenger numbers, a long-awaited decision that has stoked decades of division and debate.

“The time for action is now,” Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said after a Cabinet meeting, as he laid out the controversial plan in parliament, which will vote on it in the coming weeks.

“This is a decision taken in the national interest,” he added.

The expansion project is highly contested, mainly over environmental and noise level concerns for a large area of west London around Heathrow.

“We’ve considered these issues very carefully,” Grayling told lawmakers under questioning. “But the other thing we have to take into account is the potential for our economy.”

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who represents a nearby constituency, has previously opposed the plan, once pledging to lie in front of bulldozers to stop building.

It is unclear whether he and other lawmakers from the ruling Conservative Party will be allowed a free vote on the project.

Conservative former transport secretary Justine Greening insisted she would vote against the expansion — and urged the government to allow lawmakers to vote freely on the issue.

“These are local MPs who need to represent our local communities,” she told the BBC.

Although other Conservative MPs are also against the expansion, some opposition Labour lawmakers vocally backed the move in parliament.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said Labour will consider the proposal against four tests, including if environmental issues can be fully addressed and growth across the country is supported.

The parliamentary vote must take place by July 11, according to the Department for Transport.

‘Air pollution crisis’ 

Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven said: “Green-lighting a new runway at Heathrow on World Environment Day is like handing out free cigarettes on World Health Day.

“This airstrip alone will load the atmosphere with as much extra carbon as some entire countries pump out. It would make Londoners’ air more dangerous to breathe, contributing to an air pollution crisis that’s already cutting short thousands of lives.

“It’s time the UK government took seriously its commitment to protect the environment by building a low-carbon economy.”

But the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Britain’s big business lobby, voiced strong support for the project.

CBI Deputy Director-General Josh Hardie said: “It’s fantastic that the new runway at Heathrow is getting closer to take-off. All the more so as the United Kingdom has waited for nearly half a century for this decision.

“Expanding our aviation capacity, and creating new flight routes to rapidly growing markets, is mission critical to ensuring Britain can compete on the post-Brexit world stage.

“Our aviation capacity is set to run out as early as 2025, so it’s crucial we get spades in the ground as soon as possible,” he said.

Grayling said the government’s decision was “an important milestone in building a global Britain”.

“As we leave the EU, the UK must remain one of the world’s best-connected and outward-looking countries and a third runway at Heathrow is the best option to deliver this,” he said.

British Airways owner IAG, whose Chief Executive Willie Walsh told a parliamentary inquiry in February he had “zero” confidence that Heathrow could deliver the project on time and on budget, called the decision a “missed opportunity”.

“Today Heathrow is the most expensive hub airport in the world,” it said in a statement. 

“The government has missed an opportunity to provide the UK with the airport it needs at a price it can afford.”

SYDNEY, Australia — Middle Eastern airlines are witnessing recovery and their net profit is forecast to reach $1.3 billion in 2018, up from $1 billion in 2017, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

At its 74th Annual General Meeting held in Sydney this week, IATA said it expected airlines to achieve a collective net profit of $33.8 billion. 

The June 3-5 meeting brings together over 1,000 industry and media people, reflecting its importance to the aviation industry.

Speaking at the plenary meeting, IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said the future of aviation “overflows” with opportunities, but it is becoming more difficult to make predictions about the direction global affairs evolve in.

Globalisation has had an undeniable positive impact, he said, as 1.1 billion people have been lifted from poverty, the world is growing richer and trade, empowered by connectivity, is a leading force in development. 

Also, there are aspects that may negatively impact the industry, in addition to world developments, such as stronger protectionism, sanctions, tariffs, geopolitical conflicts, migration and immigration debates and the spectre of a trade war in an environment of an increasingly fragile trust among nations, he added.

Still, “aviation has created immense value by bringing people, products and businesses together. And ultimately, I believe that the enormous benefits of globalisation will guide us forward”, said de Juniac.

At least for now, the industry seems to indeed be going forward.

Despite rising costs, primarily of fuel and labour, and the upturn in the interest rate cycle, airlines are still expected to make over $33 billion this year, said the IATA chief, citing the 2018 IATA economic performance of the airline industry mid-year report. 

“Our nine-year run of profitability began in 2010. And return on invested capital will exceed the cost of capital for four years in a row. At long last, normal profits are becoming normal,” said de Juniac.

Return on invested capital is expected to be 8.5 per cent (down from 9 per cent in 2017); that will still exceed the average cost of capital, which rose to 7.7 per cent on higher bond yields, from 7.1 per cent in 2017, and is critical to attracting “the substantial capital needed by the industry to expand its fleet and services”.

There are challenges, of course, said de Juniac, mentioning high taxes, costly and “ill-conceived” regulation, infrastructure capacity constraints, market shifts and labour demands.

Added to these is also competition from low-cost airlines and protectionism, which “could derail successful international joint ventures”, besides jet fuel prices, which are expected to be up 25 per cent over last year’s.

Still, airlines continued to “create value for investors in 2017, in most regions”, according to Brian Pearce, IATA chief economist, in his mid-2018 update on the economic performance of the airline industry, and for the third year running, the return on capital for the industry was above the cost of capital.

Performance was strong in North America and Europe. Latin American and Asian airlines were generating returns above the industry average cost of capital, but Middle Eastern airlines were lagging behind the rest of the industry.

It is not necessarily the case with Royal Jordanian.

 Its President/CEO Stephan Pichler said: “We had a very good performance in the Q2 and Q3” of last year, which saw the airline register gains.

The company, which set a five-year turnaround plan, cut some of its costs, saving about JD6 million. It cancelled some non-viable flights, and achieved an equal amount of saving, and had good revenues, which could help it boast “a much better commercial performance” and has “allowed us to stabilise in the last year”, he noted.

In the first quarter of this year the trend continues, according to Pichler.

So far, the company recorded 18 per cent more revenue “while we offered only 4 per cent more seats”, RJ’s CEO told The Jordan Times.

“As far as we see, in the second quarter the trend continues. We hope to have a good 2018.”

BEIJING  — China warned the United States on Sunday that any agreements reached on trade and business between the two countries will be void if Washington implements tariffs and other trade measures, as the two ended their latest round of talks in Beijing.

A short statement, carried by the official Xinhua news agency, made no mention of any specific new agreements after US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

It referred instead to a consensus they reached last month in Washington, when China agreed to increase significantly its purchases of US goods and services.

"To implement the consensus reached in Washington, the two sides have had good communication in various areas such as agriculture and energy, and have made positive and concrete progress," the state news agency said, adding details would be subject to "final confirmation by both parties".

The United States and China have threatened tit-for-tat tariffs on goods worth up to $150 billion each.

Xinhua said China's attitude had been consistent and that it was willing to increase imports from all countries, including the United States.

"Reform and opening up and expanding domestic demand are China's national strategies. Our established rhythm will not change," it added.

"The achievements reached by China and the United States should be based on the premise that the two sides should meet each other halfway and not fight a trade war," Xinhua said. 

"If the United States introduces trade sanctions including raising tariffs, all the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will be void."

There was no immediate comment or statement from the US delegation or from Ross himself.

At the end of last month's Washington talks the two countries released a joint statement. 

But just when it appeared a trade truce between the two economic heavyweights was on the cards, the White House last week warned it would pursue tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, as well as impose restrictions on Chinese investments in the United States and tighter export controls.

State-run Chinese newspaper the Global Times said in an editorial on its website that China needed to prepare for the long haul due to the US propensity for changing its mind and coming up with new demands.

"Tariffs and expanding exports — the United States can't have both," it said. "China-US trade negotiations have to dig up the two sides' greatest number of common interests, and cannot be tilted towards unilateral US interests." 

Xinhua said in a separate commentary that the United States should not test China with any further flip-flops or provocations.

"The Chinese government's attitude of not wanting but also not fearing a trade war has never changed," it said. 

Ross arrived in Beijing on Saturday for talks after the Trump administration renewed tariff threats against China, and with key US allies in a foul mood towards Washington after they were hit with duties on steel and aluminium.

'Friendly and frank'

Addressing Liu earlier in the day at the start of their formal talks at a government guest house, Ross praised the tone of their interactions.

"Our meetings so far have been friendly and frank, and covered some useful topics about specific export items," Ross said, in brief comments before reporters.

Liu spoke only to welcome Ross.

Neither man has made any other comments to the media.

Ross left Beijing for Washington early Sunday evening.

Liu, a Harvard-trained economist who is a trusted confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is China's chief negotiator in the trade dispute.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday the United States wanted this weekend's talks to result in structural changes to China's economy, in addition to increased Chinese purchases of American goods.

The purchases are partly aimed at shrinking the $375 billion US goods trade deficit with China.

Mnuchin, speaking at a G-7 finance leaders meeting in Canada where he was the target of US allies' anger over steel and aluminium tariffs, said the China talks would cover other issues, including the Trump administration's desire to eliminate Chinese joint venture requirements and other policies that effectively force technology transfers.

"I want to be clear, this isn't just about buying more goods, this is about structural changes," Mnuchin said. 

"But I also fundamentally believe that if there are structural changes that allow our companies to compete fairly, by definition, that will deal with the trade deficit alone."

Ross, who was preceded in Beijing last week by more than 50 US officials, had been expected during the two-day visit to try to secure long-term purchases of US farm and energy commodities to help shrink the US trade deficit. 

The US team had also wanted to secure greater intellectual property protection and an end to Chinese subsidies that have contributed to overproduction of steel and aluminium.

WHISTLER, Canada — The EU on Friday launched its first counteroffensive against Washington's punishing steel and aluminum tariffs while the US began meetings in Canada with outraged finance ministers from its top trading partners.

Meanwhile in Washington, US President Donald Trump floated the possibility of scrapping the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement in favour of separate bilateral deals with Canada and Mexico.

In another leg of Trump's multifront trade offensive, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrived in Beijing to continue fraught talks with Chinese officials. Trump has vowed to press ahead with tariffs on as much as $50 billion in imports from China.

Brussels and Ottawa on Friday filed legal challenges at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against Washington's decision. The EU, Canada and Mexico also threatened stiff retaliatory tariffs as they pushed back against Trump's moves.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said he was dumbfounded by Washington's national security basis for the tariffs, given that US and Canadian troops had fought together in World War II, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

"This is insulting to them," he told NBC News.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "deeply disappointed" and reiterated a call for Britain and the EU to be "permanently exempted" from the "unjustified" metals tariffs.

At the Group of Seven ministerial meeting in Canada, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin faced stern reactions from his counterparts, who accused Trump of jeopardising the world economy with steps that would prove job killers for all concerned.

Trump and the 'G6' 

"The French, British and Germans held firm," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters.

"Everyone expressed their complete incomprehension of the American decisions and everyone said it was up to the Americans to take the next step since they were the ones who imposed the tariffs."

Le Maire had earlier on Friday referred to the talks as a "G6 plus one", with the United States standing apart, adopting a joke circulating among attendees at the weekend.

Talk of trade did not completely drown out the meeting's agenda, which included tax evasion and cryptocurrencies, but the meeting's chair, Canada's Finance Minister Bill Morneau, allowed participants to register grievances with Mnuchin one at a time, according to a Canadian source.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told reporters he had let Mnuchin know the tariffs were "unacceptable".

The US imposed the tariffs in March, but gave Canada and the EU — the biggest sources of foreign aluminum and steel for the US — a grace period that ended at midnight on Thursday.

Trump's decision had already drawn furious responses from Canada's Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The EU is preparing to slap tariffs on US products including bourbon, motorcycles and blue jeans worth up to 2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion).

"If players in the world don't stick to the rule book, the system might collapse. That is why we are challenging the US and China at the WTO," EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said.

Macron told Trump in a telephone call that the tariffs were "illegal", and Merkel said the measure "risks touching off spirals of escalation that in the end hurt everyone".

Canada unveiled a package of countertariffs on US imports valued at Can$16.6 billion ($12.8 billion).

Mexico said it would impose retaliatory duties on a variety of US goods, including steel and a host of agricultural goods such as pork, apples and cheese.

 'Incomprehensible' 

The prospect of a global trade war has roiled financial markets this week even if they were back in positive territory on Friday due to upbeat US economic data. 

Berenberg Bank economist Holger Schmieding argued that the direct impact of a US-EU trade war on the world economy would actually be rather small. 

Nevertheless, "Trump's contempt for international rules can deal a significant blow to business confidence, especially in trade-oriented nations," Schmieding said.

The WTO's former chief, Pascal Lamy, also said the damage would likely be limited in concrete terms.

"We have to keep things in proportion," he said on the French radio station France Info. He estimated that the economic impact of the tariffs would amount to "a very small part of trade flows as a whole".

But others have estimated the impact as up to a full point off global growth if the conflict expands and retaliation goes into effect.

The German carmakers' federation described the imposition of tariffs as "incomprehensible".

"In a connected, global economy, customs barriers don't benefit anyone, including the United States," the VDA federation said.

Germany's carmakers are especially braced for the latest threat from Trump, who earlier this month launched proceedings that could eventually slap 25 per cent tariffs on auto imports.

"I know he has a very particular problem with German cars," warned Malmstrom.

NEW YORK — Japanese telecom giant SoftBank will invest $2.25 billion in General Motors’ (GM) autonomous car programme in exchange for a stake in the venture, GM announced on Thursday.

The infusion of cash is a vote of confidence in the big US automaker, which is competing with other carmakers and technology companies to introduce autonomous cars globally. 

The investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund in the GM Cruise Holdings will be executed in two stages, with the first $900 million coming after the transaction is finalised and another $1.35 billion once GM vehicles are ready for commercialisation.

GM has said it plans to commercialise its Cruise programme in 2019 through ridesharing. 

The announcement sparked a rally in GM shares, which jumped 11.5 per cent to $42.16 in pre-market trading.

“Our Cruise and GM teams together have made tremendous progress over the last two years,” said GM Chief Executive Mary Barra. 

“Teaming up with SoftBank adds an additional strong partner as we pursue our vision of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.”

In exchange for the investment, SoftBank will hold a 19.6 per cent stake in GM Cruise.

“GM has made significant progress toward realising the dream of completely automated driving to dramatically reduce fatalities, emissions and congestion,” said Michael Ronan, managing partner of SoftBank Investment Advisors.

“We are very impressed by the advances made by the Cruise and GM teams, and are thrilled to help them lead a historic transformation of the automobile industry.”

SINGAPORE — Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Wednesday that it will relaunch the world's longest commercial flight in October, a journey of almost 19 hours from the city-state to New York, but it will not be available to economy travellers.

The daily, non-stop journey from Changi to Newark Airport will cover about 16,700 kilometres and take about 18 hours 45 minutes, the airline said in a statement.

The current record holder is Qatar Airways Flight 921 from Auckland to Doha, which takes 17 hours 40 minutes. 

The SIA flight will use the long-range Airbus A350-900ULR, which will be configured to carry 161 passengers — 67 in business class and 94 in premium economy.

The airline had flown a similar route from 2004 until 2013 but cancelled it as it fell short of revenue expectations. However, its latest decision comes as carriers look for new sources of revenue in a competitive environment, while long-haul flights often make more cash than those that require stops.

There are also plans for a non-stop route from Singapore to Los Angeles using the same plane, the airline said.

Analysts said the decision to have no economy class was an attempt to promote the airline to wealthy customers.

"It's about SIA marketing themselves as a premium service provider," Brendan Sobie, chief analyst at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, told AFP. 

 Safety concerns 

But there have been concerns that such long flights might pose safety risks, particularly for cabin crew.

Britain's largest union, Unite, alleged this month that Qantas had tried to "silence" crew members who wanted to discuss concerns about health and fatigue on their Perth to London route, one of the longest flights in the world at 17 hours and 20 minutes. 

SIA did not immediately respond to request for comment. 

However, Sobie noted that SIA pioneered the ultra long-haul route and had done a lot of research. 

"In the early 2000s when this first started, SIA did all the testing they needed to and what they have come up with has set the industry standard today," he said.

Shukor Yusof, an analyst with aviation consultancy Endau Analytics, said it was unlikely SIA could make money from the new service.

"The global premium market has eroded," he told AFP. "Operating costs are higher on ultra long-haul flights too, erasing any profits an airline might make."

The new route comes as the city-state's flag carrier faces tough challenges. 

Last year, it consolidated its low-cost units TigerAir and Scoot into a single entity in a streamlining exercise.

This month it said it will absorb its struggling premium regional wing, SilkAir, into the broader group following a
multimillion-dollar upgrade as part of reforms to stay competitive. 

LONDON — Swiss lender Banque de Commerce et de Placements (BCP) has suspended new transactions with Iran and is winding down Iran-related activities, the latest company to halt business after the United States said it would re-impose sanctions on Tehran. 

BCP, founded in 1963, has been among the players active in Iran-related trade finance in commodities, finance sources say.

US President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran on May 8 and said he would re-impose sanctions within 180 days, prompting several European companies to announce they would end business with Tehran.

“We have suspended any new transaction related to Iran after May 8, 2018 and started the ‘wind down period’ within the framework of OFAC announcement,” BCP said in a emailed statement to Reuters, referring to the US Treasury’s sanctions enforcement arm. 

Geneva-headquartered BCP said following the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal that the bank complied with all sanctions in force “and conducts its business accordingly”.

Earlier this month, Germany’s No.2 lender DZ Bank said it would halt financial transactions with Iran in July.

Finance and trade sources say Iran faces increasing difficulties accessing capital. Transactions had already been constrained as many large foreign banks remained wary of trade even under the nuclear deal. 

“The exodus by the limited number of foreign banks willing to process transactions with Iran is a big blow, especially on the trade finance side,” one finance source said. 

The 2015 nuclear agreement, worked out by the United States, five other world powers and Iran, lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits to its nuclear programme.

Tehran is pressuring Europe to come up with a package of economic measures by May 31 after major powers agreed on Friday to move quickly to offset Washington’s withdrawal from the deal.

Those measures include banning EU-based firms from complying with the re-imposed US sanctions, urging governments to make transfers to Iran’s central bank to avoid fines, in addition to creating alternative financing channels.

But analysts say there are big challenges to keeping the nuclear deal alive. 

“The US sanctions will make Iran’s business environment more difficult to operate in,” BMI Research said in a note last week.

“Firms that ... have exposure to the US market are therefore unlikely to want to maintain or expand their Iranian presence for fear of US sanction related penalties and backlash in the US market.”