SNB & CHF

In times of crisis, governments have a tendency to overcompensate for risk. This tendency may be in the public’s best interest, but it could also serve broader governmental interests. The public and government’s interest are not always one and the same. After the September 11 attacks, a bipartisan Congress enacted the disastrous USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) in an...

While expecting long-term yields to be capped, we remain neutral on US Treasuries. We think peripheral euro area bonds to avoid the levels of stress seen during the sovereign debt crisis. On 23 March, the Fed announced unlimited quantitative easing (QE), or “QE infinity”. Ramping up its purchases of Treasuries to a daily pace of USD75 bn, it currently owns 18% of all US Treasuries outstanding, but could easily own between 40%-50% by the end of the year. We remain...

Two days ago, when a platoon of clueless CNBC hacks said that stocks were extremely undervalued, and must be bought (on their fundamentals, not because the Fed was about to nationalize the entire bond market and is set to start buying equity ETFs in the next crash), we showed just how “undervalued” the market was. That’s when Credit Suisse chief equity strategist Jonathan Golub – usually one of the most bullish Wall Streeters – published a chart showing that any...

Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter. (Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle) The Swiss government is examining plans to stave off bankruptcies of companies struggling with the fallout of the coronavirus crisis. But regular debt collection procedures will resume on April 20. Justice Minster Karin Keller-Sutter said the aim was to stabilise the economy and to secure jobs. “It is key for the government to prevent or keep to a minimum job losses and bankruptcies,” she told...

Combining smart contracts with bitcoin increases its potential use cases. (© Keystone / Alexandra Wey) A consortium of Swiss cryptocurrency companies has incorporated bitcoin onto the Tezos blockchain. The move brings Tezos, which has based its foundation in Switzerland, a step closer to rival blockchain Ethereum. Launched in 2018, the Tezos blockchain was designed to play host to a new generation of decentralised finance, business and social projects. It competes...

Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been reluctant to impose mandatory “social distancing” orders on the Mexican population. According to USNews, López Obrador “has maintained a relaxed public attitude” toward COVID-19, and the Mexican government did not impose a ban on “non-essential” work until March 30, long after health officials in other countries insisted Mexico must do so. According to Dr. Miguel Betancourt, president of the Mexican Society of...

The current crisis is not a good thing. However, it is not the end of the world. And it can teach us some things about being socially isolated. Let’s stay positive and try to learn from this unprecedented isolation. During this crisis, we have been learning many things. Some of these things we were already doing, and we only realize their importance now. But for other things, we understand that we can improve some things in our life. That way, the next time we will...

Another day, another new Federal Reserve “bailout.” As these things go by, quickly, the details become less important. What is the central bank doing today? Does it really matter? For me, twice was enough. All the way back in 2010 I had expected other people to react as I did to QE2. If you have to do it twice, it doesn’t work. And if Ben Bernanke grew so concerned he felt a second dose was required… Put another way, if a central bank keeps doing “bigger” things,...

Die Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA veröffentlicht eine zweite Aufsichtsmitteilung mit Hinweisen für die Beaufsichtigten zu Erleichterungen und Präzisierungen der Aufsichtspraxis im Kontext der COVID-19-Krise. Mit ihrer Aufsichtsmitteilung 03/2020 gibt die FINMA weitere Erleichterungen im Kontext der COVID-19-Krise bekannt. Die Erleichterungen betreffen gewisse Identifikationspflichten der Geldwäschereiregulierung sowie den Versicherungsbereich. Hier ist...

© Arseniy Rogov | Dreamstime.com The number of new recorded Covid-19 cases is slowing in Switzerland. By 8 April 2020 the total number of recorded cases was 23,574 according to Switzerland’s health authority. Comparing the number of new cases on day to day basis can be misleading, particularly over the weekend when counting is sometimes interrupted. However, if the numbers are smoothed and compared on a week by week basis these counting timing distortions are less...