Swiss National Bank (SNB)
UBS and Credit Suisse still pose risks to financial stability, SNB vice-chair says
Jean-Pierre Danthine argues Basel III is inadequate and does not rule out possibility of future public bail-outs; warns Switzerland's biggest banks still 'very large by international standards'
SNB chair shrugs off critique of Swiss exchange rate ceiling
Thomas Jordan says Swiss franc peg prompted by 'safe haven' status is neither at odds with long-standing current account surplus nor undermining adjustment of global financial imbalances
Banknotes worth $2m stolen from Swiss printer
Investigation under way into theft of incomplete Sfr1,000 notes that subsequently entered circulation as counterfeits
SNB reiterates commitment to franc price ceiling and zero interest rate
Swiss National Bank is ready to buy unlimited quantities of foreign exchange and take other measures if required to hold the franc down; inflation should turn positive next year, it says
UBS prepares to buy ‘bad bank' assets back from SNB
StabFund effectively cut UBS's exposure to troubled credit markets in the US and Europe by buying up the bank's illiquid securities for $38.7 billion using funds largely borrowed from the central bank
SNB currency action leaves big imprint on Swiss balance of payments
Reserve assets at the SNB increased by Sfr175 billion in 2012 – nearly a fourfold increase from 2011 – reflecting efforts to keep the franc at a sustainable level
SNB researchers find modified Arima model predicts inflation better
Estimating Arima models for individual CPI expenditure items and aggregating the forecasts from these models gives better results than directly applying the Arima method to the total CPI, paper finds
Swiss working paper takes a new look at currency excess returns
Swiss National Bank working paper finds that downside risk models do not fully address the issue of foreign currency excess returns being largely unrelated to standard risk factors
SNB reaffirms commitment to exchange rate limit
Thomas Jordan says Swiss economy continues to face 'major challenges'; Fritz Zurbrügg outlines efforts to control risks arising from the central bank's $475 billion foreign currency investments
SNB's Jordan slams gold referendum
Thomas Jordan says limiting Swiss National Bank's control over gold reserves would be ‘detrimental to Switzerland'; reveals location of holdings in face of public pressure
SNB paper analyses relationship between monetary policy and financial integration
Study finds that monetary policy can have a larger effect on output and inflation under conditions of greater financial and trade integration
SNB research finds Swiss franc is only safe haven against some currencies
Paper suggests Swiss franc is a safe haven from euro but not from other major reserve currencies; says this may be down to small size of market
SNB vice-chair tells people to ‘fasten seatbelts’ following CCB activation
Jean-Pierre Danthine says activation of the counter-cyclical capital buffer aims to avoid a sharp fall in property prices and rise in defaults, but achieving a soft landing will be challenging
Swiss National Bank faces referendum over gold sales
Politicians seek to prevent SNB from selling gold and force the central bank to hold 20% of assets in the precious metal via a public referendum
Nalm 2013: Sound central bank risk practices could choke off liquidity
Central banks are more activist in reserves management, with some looking to private sector for inspiration. But there are dangers with such a approach, say panellists at Central Banking conference
Swiss paper finds SNB's 2009 bond purchase policy narrowed spreads
Researchers find 'unique' Swiss bond purchase programme had a 'discounted portfolio balance effect of the expected purchases, as distinct from policy signalling'
Central banks are 'not competing' over currencies, says Swiss bank chief economist
Central banks are pursuing domestic priorities and are not engaged in competitive devaluation, says keynote speaker at FX Invest Europe conference
SNB activates capital buffer in face of overheating mortgage market
Swiss National Bank applies 1% counter-cyclical capital buffer to mortgage lenders as imbalances in the real-estate market worsened in the second half of 2012
SNB profits halve in 2012
Swiss National Bank reveals expected profits for 2012 are less than half the figure for 2011
Swiss paper considers how GDP is best forecast
Study says forecasting the individual components of GDP does not produce results worthy of the additional effort
SNB to open branch in Singapore
Swiss central bank will transfer Asian portfolio managers to new office in Singapore as it looks to diversify reserves further
Central banks extend swap arrangements
Bank of Canada, Bank of England, European Central Bank, Swiss National Bank and US Federal Reserve extend temporary US dollar and bilateral swap agreements
SNB will not abandon minimum exchange rate, Jordan says
Thomas Jordan reaffirms the Swiss National Bank’s commitment to a minimum of 1.2 Swiss francs to the euro; inflation expected to remain negative next year
SNB’s Zurbrügg defends fiscal-monetary relationship
Swiss National Bank board member says tension only arises in times of crisis and monetary policy is burdened with expectations