Andréa M Maechler: Introductory remarks, Swiss National Bank news conference

Introductory remarks by Ms Andréa M Maechler, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Zurich, 16 December 2021.

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

I will begin my remarks with a review of developments on the financial markets over the past half-year. Then I will update you on the imminent changeover from Swiss franc Libor to SARON. I will close by talking about the new Secure Swiss Finance Network, which will further strengthen the cybersecurity of the Swiss financial centre.

Situation on the financial markets

Volatility on the financial markets – especially the interest rate markets – has increased since our last news conference. In the summer months, concerns about the global growth outlook and the spread of new coronavirus variants contributed to a decline in yields on the government bond market. Since the autumn, trading activity has increasingly been dominated by inflation concerns and expectations in some quarters that the major central banks could raise interest rates. Both market-based inflation expectations and yields on nominal government bonds have risen again due to solid global demand, supply shortages and – for a time – markedly higher commodity prices. Simultaneously, volatility has also increased, partly due to uncertainty surrounding rising coronavirus case numbers.