The Swiss National Bank is the central bank of Switzerland, and so is therefore
responsible for the monetary policy of the nation of Switzerland and also for
the issuing of Swiss franc banknotes. The bank is otherwise known as: German:
Schweizerische Nationalbank; French: Banque Nationale Suisse; Italian: Banca
Nazionale Svizzera; Romansh: Banca Naziunala Svizra, which are the four
official languages of the country. The SNB is an aktiengesellschaft under
special regulations, and has two head offices, one is in Bern and the other
one in Zurich. History
The bank formed as a result of the need for a reduction in the number of banks
of issue, which numbered 53 sometime after 1826. In the 1874 revision of the
Federal Constitution it was given the task to oversee laws concerning the
issuing of banknotes. Then in 1891 the Federal Constitution was re-revised
again to entrust the Confederation with sole rights to issue banknotes. The
National Bank Law was enforced during 16 January 1906, and the Nationalbank began
business activities during 20 June 1907, and is thought then founded sometime
during either 1906 or 1907, SNB itself states founding was during 1907.
Sometime during World War I, the bank was instructed to release notes of a
small denomination, for the first time, by the Federal Council of Switzerland.
The Bundesrat devalued the Swiss Franc during 1936, and as a result, there was
made available to the Nationalbank, an amount of monies, which the bank
subsequently stored in a Währungsausgleischsfonds reserve for the
future, for usage in situations of emergency.
During 1981 the bank was participating in research involving Orell Füssli and
an optical research group named Landis and Gyr, of matters of banknote design.
During 1994 the Bank was described as a joint-stock company acting under the
administration and supervision of the Confederation, had eight branches and
twenty sub-branches within cantons. The governing board had overall executive
management of the Nationalbank, with supervision entrusted to its
shareholders, the banks' council, the banks' committee, its local committees
and auditing committee. There were three members of the governing board, who
together decided the monetary policy of the Nationalbank. Towards the last
months of 1993, the number of employees numbered 566.
With the inception of Article 99 of the Federal Constitution, during May 2004,
the Nationalbank achieved formal independence.
As of 2015 the Nationalbank was privately owned, with the majority of
shares belonging to cantons and banks of cantons, and the smaller remainder in
the possession of private individuals. Shares of the SNB existed within SIX
Swiss Exchange from 1907 onward. = Exchange rates =
The Nationalbank made an announcement on 6 September 2011, of its intention to
address changes in the value of the Swiss Franc to the Euro, specifically,
of the value of the Franc falling below 1.2 to the Euro. A cap was placed on
exchange-rates in order to take measures to stem the development of a
possible recession. The bank stated the 1.2 exchange value was defendable as the
bank could potentially proceed to mint enough banknotes to control the rate
sufficiently. Responsibilities
The basic governing principles of the Nationalbank are contained within
Article 99 of the Federal Constitution, which deals with matters of monetary
policy. There are three numbered factors concerning principles explicitly
mentioning the Nationalbank, of four altogether shown within the Article. The
SNB is therefore obliged by constitutional statute law to act in
accordance with the economic interests of Switzerland, accordingly, the prime
function of the Nationalbank is: to pursue a reliable monetary policy for
the benefit of the Swiss economy and the Swiss people.
The Nationalbank publishes within its own site a list of research done as work
in progress by staff members, which begin at 2004, to 2005, 2006, 2007,
2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and to 1 August 2015 there is
shown nine papers, a list of eight economic studies which relate to the
tasks of the bank, listed from 2005, in addition to a bi-annually published
update of research, listed from 2012 to the present.
= Cash supply and distribution = The National Bank is entrusted with the
note-issuing privilege. It supplies the economy with banknotes that meet high
standards with respect to quality and security. It is also charged by the
Confederation with the task of coin distribution.
= Cashless payment transactions = In the field of cashless payment
transactions, the National Bank provides services for payments between banks.
These are settled in the Swiss Interbank Clearing system via sight deposit
accounts held with the National Bank. = Investment of currency reserves =
The National Bank manages currency reserves. These engender confidence in
the Swiss franc, help to prevent and overcome crises and may be utilized for
interventions in the foreign exchange market.
= Financial system stability = The National Bank contributes to the
stability of the financial system by acting as an arbiter over monetary
policy. Within the context of this task, it analyses sources of risk to the
financial system, oversees systemically important payment and securities
settlement systems and helps to promote an operational environment for the
financial sector. = International monetary cooperation =
Together with the federal authorities, the National Bank participates in
international monetary cooperation and provides technical assistance.
= Banker to the Confederation = The National Bank acts as banker to the
Swiss Confederation. It processes payments on behalf of the Confederation,
issues money market debt register claims and bonds, handles the safekeeping of
securities and carries out money market and foreign exchange transactions.
= Statistics = The National Bank compiles statistical
data on banks and financial markets, the balance of payments, the international
investment position and the Swiss financial accounts.
Monetary policy The SNB pursues a monetary policy
serving the interests of the country as a whole. It must ensure price stability,
while taking due account of economic developments. Monetary policy affects
production and prices with a considerable time lag. Consequently, it
is based on inflation forecasts rather than current inflation. The SNB’s
monetary policy strategy consists of three elements: a definition of price
stability, a medium-term conditional inflation forecast, and, at operational
level, a target range for a reference interest rate, which is the Libor for
three-month investments in Swiss francs. General Meeting of Shareholders
The General Meeting of Shareholders is held once a year, as a rule in April.
Owing to the SNB’s public mandate, the powers of the Shareholders’ Meeting are
not as extensive as in joint-stock companies under private law.
Bank Council The Bank Council oversees and controls
the conduct of business by the Swiss National Bank and consists of 11
members. Six members, including the President and Vice President, are
appointed by the Federal Council, and five by the Shareholders’ Meeting. The
Bank Council sets up four committees from its own ranks: an Audit Committee,
a Risk Committee, a Remuneration Committee and an Appointment Committee.
A list of the Bank Council members is published on the SNB website
Governing Board The Swiss National Bank’s management and
executive body is the Governing Board. The Governing Board is responsible in
particular for monetary policy, asset management strategy, contributing to the
stability of the financial system and international monetary cooperation. The
Governing Board consists of 3 members: Chairman: Thomas Jordan
Vice Chairman: Fritz Zurbrügg Member: Andréa M. Maechler
Gold reserves The SNB manages the official gold
reserves of Switzerland, which as of 2008 amount to 1145 tonnes and are
valued at 30.5 billion CHF. The gold is believed to be stored in huge vaults
beneath the Federal Square to the north of the federal Parliament building in
Bern, but the SNB treats the location of the gold reserves as a secret.
Independent confirmation of the gold's location was obtained by the Bernese
newspaper Der Bund in 2008. It published a photograph of the bullion that a
keystone photographer was allowed to take at the SNB premises in Bern in
2001. Der Bund also quoted a retired official of the city's surveying office
as saying that the gold vaults take up an area of roughly half the Federal
Square and have a depth of dozens of meters, down to the level of the Aar
river. The SNB says that the gold reserves are stored in different safe
places in Switzerland and abroad. From the latter years of the 1990s until
sometime during 2005, the Nationalbank transferred from its possession an
amount of gold deemed superfluous. = World War II =
The Swiss National Bank provided 1.2 billion CHF to the Reichsbank, of this,
a value of approximately 780 million CHF of the gold given to the Nationalbank
was gold which had been looted by the forces of Germany. In addition the
Nationalbank also exchanged between 1.2–1.6 billion CHF for gold from the
Allied forces. During 20 April 1944, gold from the gold reserves of Italy
arrived from Como at the railway station within Chiasso.
There is controversy over the role of the Swiss National Bank in the transfer
of Nazi gold during World War II. The SNB was the largest gold distribution
centre in continental Europe before the war. A study by the U.S. Department of
State in 1997 notes that the Bank, "must have known that some portion of the gold
it was receiving from the Reichsbank was looted from occupied countries." This
was confirmed by the Swiss Bergier commission in 1998 which concluded that
the SNB received US$440 million in gold from Nazi sources, of which US$316
million is estimated to have been looted. The gold from Nazi governship
sources was in the form of ingots containing gold looted from Central
Banks of Europe and gold from Jewish persons executed within the
concentration camps established by the machination of the Nazi regime, which
the SNB took without knowing these facts at the time, nor inquiring to any great
degree in the process of its transfer into the possession of the SNB,
according to a former Archivist of the SNB Robert Vogler.
Reports The Nationalbank had profits of $39.3
billion at the close of 2014. The bank reported during 31 July 2015, a
loss of £33 billion. See also
Banking in Switzerland Economy of Switzerland
SARON Swiss Financial Market Supervisory
Authority eabh
Notes and references External links
Official website