Private defence company sets up in Basel

The decision by one of the world’s largest security contractors to set up a Swiss holding company has generated concern at cantonal and federal level. London based Aegis Defence Services is now wholly owned by a holding company in Basel. This effectively moves the firm’s headquarters to Switzerland. The company employs an estimated 20,000 soldiers mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of them are on contract to the defence department of the United States. WRS’s Vincent Landon has more.