Tag Archives: 1) SNB and CHF

The Swiss National Bank is not prepared to release any further reserves. Keystone / Martin Ruetschi The Swiss National Bank (SNB) continues to beat off demands to fight inflation by raising interest rates and to distribute more reserves to cantons and other causes. SNB president Barbara Janom Steiner showed signs of frustration in a speech on Friday that defended the policies of the central bank. “There are ever more varied proposals – and indeed, increasingly,...

Schlegel (Jahrgang 1976) wird laut Mitteilung vom Mittwoch per Anfang August die Leitung des II. Departements der SNB übernehmen. Der neue Vize-Chef ist ein SNB-Urgestein. Er ist seit knapp zwanzig Jahren in verschiedenen leitenden Positionen für die SNB tätig, zuletzt seit September 2018 als stellvertretendes Mitglied des Direktoriums im I. Departement. Schlegel bringe mit seiner hohen Fachkompetenz und seiner breiten, langjährigen Erfahrung in notenbankpolitischen...

Petra Gerlach and Attilio Zanetti become Alternate Members of the Governing Board At its meeting of 4 May 2022, the Federal Council appointed Martin Schlegel as Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank with effect from 1 August 2022. He will succeed Fritz Zurbrügg on the Governing Board when the latter steps down at the end of July 2022. Martin Schlegel has been a member of the Enlarged Governing Board and Deputy Head of Department I since 1...

Die Kolumne «Gopfried Stutz» erschien zuerst im Credit Suisse und UBS liefern uns ein schönes Lehrstück. Die UBS verspekulierte sich in den USA derart, dass die Schweizerische Nationalbank deren faule Kredite in der Finanzkrise von 2008 übernehmen und somit die Grossbank vor dem Kollaps retten musste. Derweil vermochte die Credit Suisse die Verluste selber zu stemmen und erhielt dafür Anerkennung. Heute ist es gerade umgekehrt: Die UBS schreibt wieder ansprechende...

The increasing volatility of SNB Earnings Annual results are not really definite. Given that the SNB accumulates foreign currencies with interventions, they have huge swings. But the SNB may lose 50 billion in one year and win 60 billion in the next year or vice verse. Low Inflation, Crashes and Central Bank Money Printing The crisis caused by the Covid19 virus,is a typical crisis with low inflation (at least for now). During such a crisis, central bank money...

The Swiss National Bank is today publishing financial accounts data for Q4 2021. Data on household wealth are thus available for the whole of 2021; a commentary is provided below. This is followed by a detailed look at the development of the financial net worth of the Swiss economy’s institutional sectors since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Financial wealth of households increased significantly in 2021 Household financial assets increased by CHF 202 billion...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is very opaque by international standards. That has to change, says Yvan Lengwiler, professor of economics at the University of Basel. He explains his proposals in the latest Geldcast update. “There is no right to secrecy,” says Yvan Lengwiler – not even at the Swiss National Bank. He has joined forces with Stefan Gerlach of the EFG Bank and Charles Wyplosz, a professor at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, to form the “SNB...

“Ich habe vor zehn Jahren die Nachfolge von Kaspar Villiger angetreten, der die Bank in den Wirren der Finanzkrise übernahm”, sagte Axel Weber am Mittwoch in einer Abschiedsrede an seiner letzten UBS-Generalversammlung zu den Aktionären. Damals habe er sich gesagt, die UBS müsse wieder als eine Ikone der Schweizer Wirtschaft wahrgenommen werden. “Ich darf heute mit Genugtuung feststellen, dass wir dies auch geschafft haben: UBS ist wieder eine starke Säule der...

A new era of reference interest rates began at the start of this year. Libor, which had been the key reference rate for several decades and several currencies, including the Swiss franc, ceased to exist in many currencies at the end of 2021. SARON has now fully replaced Swiss franc Libor. This speech explains why reference rates play a central role in financial markets and discusses the circumstances under which some interest rates either achieve or lose reference...

Report for the attention of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank for its quarterly assessment of March 2022 The report describes economic and monetary developments in Switzerland and explains the inflation forecast. It shows how the SNB views the economic situation and the implications for monetary policy it draws from this assessment. The first section (‘Monetary policy decision of 24 March 2022’) is an excerpt from the press release published following...