Fritz Zurbrügg: Introductory remarks, Swiss National Bank news conference

Introductory remarks by Mr Fritz Zurbrügg, Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Berne, 12 December 2019.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Central bank speech  | 
13 December 2019

In my remarks today, I will begin with the current assessment of the situation at the big banks and domestically focused banks. I will then go on to discuss the significance of climate change for financial stability. The final part of my speech will focus on the issuance of the new banknote series, which was completed in September.

Big banks

I will start with the situation at the big banks. Both Credit Suisse and UBS have made significant progress since the 'too big to fail' regulations were introduced almost ten years ago. They have strengthened their capital bases, reduced their risk positions and implemented key organisational measures as regards crisis management..

With respect to resilience, Credit Suisse and UBS have already achieved their targets. Both banks have increased their regulatory capital to the target levels and thus meet all final requirements on a consolidated basis. Compliance with the requirements of the 'too big to fail' regulations is necessary to ensure adequate resilience of the two Swiss big banks.