Tag Archives: 1) SNB and CHF

In the second quarter of 2018, one in which the global economy was shaken by the rapid escalation of Trump’s trade war, and in which central banks were one after another hinting at their own QE tapering and rate hiking intentions to follow in the Fed’s footsteps, what was really taking place was another central bank buying spree meant to boost confidence that things are now back to normal, using “money” that was freshly...

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. Good years of the Credit Cycle This trend was stopped in 2016, even without the need for a cap on the franc. But one should consider that we are in...

Despite heightened trade tensions, the Swiss franc has been relatively weak against the US dollar of late. The defensive features of the franc seem to be outweighed by an unsupported interest rate differential. But the continuing threat of escalation in trade disputes and extreme short speculative positioning on the franc mean the latter has upside potential. Capital outflows are unlikely to weigh significantly on...

Martin Schlegel - Click to enlarge At its meeting of 4 July 2018, the Federal Council appointed Martin Schlegel as the new Alternate Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), following the proposal of the SNB’s Bank Council. He will take up the position of Deputy Head of Department I as of 1 September. Martin Schlegel is currently Head of the SNB’s branch office in Singapore. Having graduated...

„An der Grenze des Erträglichen“ – so beurteilt Bundesrat und Finanzminister Ueli Maurer die Bilanz der Schweizerischen Nationalbank (SNB). Als ehemaliger Präsident des Zürcher Bauernverbandes ist Maurer zu einer Milchbüchlein-Rechnung fähig. Als Inhaber des eidgenössischen Buchhalter-Diplomes kann er auch eine Bilanz beurteilen. Eine Milchbüchlein-Rechnung und einfachste Bilanzkenntnisse genügen, um zu erkennen, dass...

Summary of the 2017 banking year Of the 253 banks in Switzerland, 229 recorded a profit in 2017, posting a total profit of CHF 10.3 billion. The remaining 24 institutions recorded an aggregate loss of CHF 0.5 billion. The result of the period for all banks was CHF 9.8 billion. The aggregate balance sheet total rose by 4.8% to CHF 3,249.4 billion. On the assets side, domestic mortgage loans continued to advance, by...

Switzerland: monetary policy At its quarterly monetary policy assessment last week, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) kept unchanged the target range for the three-month Libor at between -1.25% and -0.25% and the interest rate on sight deposits at a record low of -0.75%. The SNB reiterated its willingness to intervene in the foreign exchange market if needed. The central bank’s assessment of the Swiss franc also remained...

On 21 June 2018, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced its decision on interest rates, which it left unchanged. Fritz Zurbrügg, Thomas Jordan and Andréa Maechler Switzerland’s economy has been sailing into the headwinds of a strong currency since the SNB scrapped its exchange rate cap in January 2015 and the Swiss franc briefly went beyond parity with the euro. To weaken the currency, the SNB introduced negative...

I will begin my remarks with an overview of the situation on the financial markets, before giving an update on the status of the reforms regarding reference interest rates. And in closing I would like to say a few words about our branch office in Singapore, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary. Situation on the financial markets Let me start with the developments on the financial markets. The first half of 2018...

Fritz Zurbrugg - Click to enlarge In my remarks today, I will present the key findings from this year’s Financial Stability Report, published by the Swiss National Bank this morning. In the first part of my speech, I will talk about the big banks, before going on, in the second part, to outline our current assessment of the situation at domestically focused banks. Big banks In October 2018, it will be ten years since...