Swiss Perfectionism

How Switzerland peps up SMEs: Banks are encouraged to extend credit (at 0%). The treasury guarantees the loans. The SNB refinances banks and accepts the guaranteed loans as collateral. Fast and efficient. Eventually, some of these loans will turn into grants of course. But that’s ok; the first-best response to a shock with asymmetric effects does involve transfers if markets are incomplete.

According to a BIS press release, several leading central banks collaborate with the BIS on matters relating to the introduction of CBDC: The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), have created a group to share experiences as they assess the potential cases for central bank digital currency (CBDC) in their home jurisdictions.

According to provisional calculations, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) expects to make a profit of around CHF 49 billion in 2019. Most of this comes from the rising value of the SNB’s foreign currency positions (+CHF 40 billion) and a valuation gain on gold holdings (+CHF 6.9 billion).

Warum die Forderung nach einer klimafreundlichen Anlagepolitik schwierig bis gar nicht umzusetzen ist. Aufgrund ihrer extrem expansiven Geldpolitik sind sowohl die EZB als auch andere wichtige europäische Zentralbanken wie die SNB zu Grossinvestoren auf Anleihenmärkten und teilweise auch an Börsen geworden.

The current monetary environment in Switzerland is as far from ordinary as can be imagined: negative interest rates (from -0.75% in the short term to -0.25% for 50Y govt bonds) and oceans of liquidity (M0 has grown to 50% of M3 from pre-crises levels of around 8%).

In einem Beitrag auf LinkedIn am 29. Dezember 2019 wirft Prof. Erwin Heri von der Universität Basel in die Runde, dass negative (Real-)Zinsen möglicherweise vernünftig sind. Sie wären das natürliche Ergebnis der Präferenzen der Wirtschaftssubjekte – und nicht primär das Ergebnis einer Manipulation von Zentralbanken.

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 … Continue reading »

In 2019, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) made a profit of around CHF 49 billion. These profits came mainly from the rising value of the assets on the bank’s balance sheet. In 2019, the value of its holdings of foreign currency and gold rose substantially. When combined with interest, dividend income and gains on shares total profits for the year were CHF 49 billion.