Category Archive: 1) SNB and CHF

Andréa M. Maechler / Thomas Moser: Life after Libor: A new era of reference interest rates

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.

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Quarterly Bulletin 1/2022 – Monetary policy report

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...

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2022-03-30 – 1/2022 – Business cycle signals: SNB regional network

Report submitted to the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank for its quarterly assessment. The appraisals presented here are based on discussions between the SNB’s delegates for regional economic relations and company managers throughout Switzerland. In its evaluation, the SNB aggregates and interprets the information received. A total of 241 company talks were conducted between 18 January and 8 March.

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Fritz Zurbrügg: Macroprudential policy beyond the pandemic: Taking stock and looking ahead

In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), national regulators and international institutions joined forces to build the foundations of our current macroprudential frameworks. These comprise policies aimed at containing the build-up of vulnerabilities to which the banking sector is exposed, and at strengthening banking sector resilience.

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SNB’s Zurbruegg: It is not roll of monetary policy to cure risks to financial system

Vulnerabilities have increased and Swiss real estate market. Swiss apartments overvalued by 10% to 35%. SNB continues to monitor developments in real estate market. It is not roll of monetary policy to curb risk to financial system. The  USDCHF  is trading back below its 100 hour moving average at 0.93129 and its 200 hour moving average at 0.93304.

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SNB introduces possibility of repo rate transactions being indexed to policy rate

This will be added to the SNB's monetary policy repertoire moving forward but not before some test operations are conducted. For the time being, the central bank implements monetary policy by setting the SNB policy rate so this just adds to the tools they can play around with. However, I still see the key policy rate as being the main weapon in the armory.

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Swiss balance of payments and international investment position: 2021 and Q4 2021

The current account surplus in 2021 was CHF 69 billion, up CHF 49 billion on the previous year, which was heavily influenced by the coronavirus pandemic. The increase in the current account surplus was almost entirely due to the higher receipts surplus in goods trade (up CHF 45 billion). Here a significantly higher receipts surplus was recorded in both traditional goods trade (foreign trade total 1) and merchanting than in the previous year....

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„Jetzt hilft uns, dass Thomas Jordan ein Falke ist“

Der SNB-Chef wurde wegen seiner harten Anti-Inflations-Haltung gescholten, sagt Fabio Canetg, Journalist mit "Geldcast"-Sendung. Nun profitiere die Schweiz davon, weil hier die Preise mit plus 2 Prozent im Vergleich zum Euro-Raum und den USA moderat stiegen. Das wiederum ziehe Vermögen aus dem Ausland an, was den Franken stärke und die Inflation zusätzlich dämpfe.

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Devisen: Euro legt in etwas weniger trübem Umfeld zu

Auch gegenüber dem Franken hat der Euro am Montag über die erste Tageshälft angezogen. Derzeit kostet er 1,0244, am Morgen waren es noch 1,0213 und am Freitagabend 1,0200. Der US-Dollar zeigt sich bei 0,9348 Fr. relativ stabil. In Marktkreisen gilt es als ziemlich sicher, dass die SNB zur Stützung des Euro auf Höhe der Parität zum Franken eingegriffen hat.

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Swiss National Bank renews its commitment to adhere to the FX Global Code

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has renewed the Statement of Commitment to the FX Global Code based on the revised version of the Code dated July 2021. By signing this Statement, the SNB attests that its internal processes are consistent with the principles of the FX Global Code. The SNB also expects its regular counterparties to comply with the agreed rules of conduct.

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Swiss National Bank proposes reactivation of sectoral countercyclical capital buffer at 2.5%

After consultation with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the Swiss National Bank has submitted a proposal to the Federal Council requesting that the sectoral countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) be reactivated. The buffer is to be set at 2.5% of risk-weighted exposures secured by residential property in Switzerland (cf. appendix).

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SEBA Bank Raises CHF 110 Million in Series C Fundraise

SEBA Bank, a digital assets firm with a Swiss banking license from FINMA, announced that it has raised CHF 110 million in a significantly oversubscribed Series C funding round.

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SNB says successfully tested use of digital currency to settle transactions with top investment banks

The latest trial could see the introduction of central bank digital currency move a step closer in Switzerland. The SNB says that they integrated the digital currencies into payment systems and used them in simulated transactions involving UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup.

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SNB erwartet für 2021 Jahresgewinn von 26 Mrd. Franken

Die Nationalbank wird für das Geschäftsjahr 2021 nach provisorischen Berechnungen einen Gewinn in der Grössenordnung von rund 26 Mrd. Franken ausweisen. Der Gewinn ist insbesondere den Fremdwährungspositionen geschuldet. Bund und Kantone erhalten eine Ausschüttung von 6 Mrd. Franken.

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BIS, SNB and SIX successfully test integration of wholesale CBDC settlement with commercial banks

Project Helvetia looks toward a future with more tokenised financial assets based on distributed ledger technology coexisting with today’s systems.

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Swiss National Bank expects annual profit of around CHF 26 billion for 2021

According to provisional calculations, the Swiss National Bank will report a profit in the order of around CHF 26 billion for the 2021 financial year. The profit on foreign currency positions amounted to just under CHF 26 billion. A valuation loss of CHF 0.1 billion was recorded on gold holdings. The net result on Swiss franc positions amounted to over CHF 1 billion.

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SNB profitiert von starker Aktienmarktperformance

Die SNB dürfte laut UBS für das Gesamtjahr 2021 einen Gewinn von fast 20 Mrd. Franken ausweisen. Dieser ist einer starken Aktienmarktperformance zu verdanken trotz belastender Zins- und Währungsveränderungen. Im letzten Quartal hingegen dürfte die Nationalbank wegen der deutlichen Aufwertung des Frankens gegenüber den meisten Währungen einen Verlust von über 20 Mrd. Franken erlitten haben.

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Swiss balance of payments and international investment position: Q3 2021

In the third quarter of 2021, the current account surplus amounted to CHF 24 billion, CHF 10 billion more than in the same quarter of 2020. The increase was mainly attributable to the significantly higher receipts surplus in goods trade. This surplus was due to traditional goods trade (foreign trade total 1), non-monetary gold trading, as well as to merchanting.

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Monetary policy assessment of 16 December 2021: Swiss National Bank maintains expansionary monetary policy

The SNB is maintaining its expansionary monetary policy. It is thus ensuring price stability and supporting the Swiss economy in its recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It is keeping the SNB policy rate and interest on sight deposits at the SNB at −0.75%, and remains willing to intervene in the foreign exchange market as necessary, in order to counter upward pressure on the Swiss franc.

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BBVA Switzerland Adds Ether to Its Crypto Trading Service

BBVA Switzerland, the Swiss franchise of Spanish multinational financial institution BBVA, has expanded its cryptocurrency custody and trading service with the addition of Ether to its investment portfolio. Its private banking clients and new gen customers will now have access to both Bitcoin and Ether, a statement from the company said.

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