Swiss National Bank (SNB)
SNB's Jordan: 'Transparency can be counterproductive'
Chairman of the Swiss National Bank calls for central banks to take ‘great caution’ before making changes to their communications policy; expresses scepticism over board minutes and forward guidance
SNB loses $16 billion on gold
The Swiss National Bank expects to report a loss of 10 billion dollars for 2013 as heavy valuation losses on its gold holdings outweigh forex gains and StabFund profits
People: Canada deputy retires; Tucker becomes Sir Paul
John Murray's retirement creates a deputy governor vacancy at the Bank of Canada; former Bank of England deputy Paul Tucker is knighted; and more
Swiss paper dissects asset price responses to economic news
Researchers find the relationship between asset prices and economic news is shaped by the prevailing economic conditions – including policy rates and perception of risk
UBS buys back ‘bad bank' from Swiss central bank
Switzerland's biggest bank is reacquiring vehicle set up by the Swiss National Bank in 2008 to relieve it of illiquid assets and save it from potential collapse; Deal earns SNB $3.8 billion in profit
People: Barclays economist returns to BoE; Cleveland steps up search for Pianalto replacement
Bank of England hires Simon Hayes from Barclays to replace Robert Wood in charge of MPC economic forecasts, reporting to Spencer Dale; Cleveland Fed hires search firm to find new president
Leading central banks make emergency swap lines permanent
Six leading central banks are leaving bilateral swap agreements introduced during the financial crisis in place until further notice; US dollar liquidity-providing operations will continue as normal
Swiss researchers sceptical about advanced settlement algorithms
SNB working paper says overhauling the algorithms used in the Swiss Interbank Clearing system would produce an ‘economically irrelevant’ reduction in settlement delay and ‘low’ cost savings
SNB paper tests shock response on individual sectors
Researchers apply dynamic factor model to Swiss economy to examine impact of monetary policy, exchange rates and external demand on different sectors
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