The move was precipitated by the rapid increase in value of the CHF in 2011. Though this Swiss National Bank historic announcement and action caught many by surprise, in hindsight it was not without warning. Even thought this reserve requirement was eliminated in 2000 and the bank held a gold sell off reducing reserves to 20%, the historic acceptance of the CHF as a safe haven remained. Historically the CHF was considered by most as a safe haven given the Swiss National Bank's focus on low inflation and its policy of backing the CHF with 40% gold reserves. This surprise move by the Swiss National Bank has forced currency traders worldwide into re-evaluating the traditionally accepted thought of the CHF as a safe haven currency. This statement shocked currency markets and lead to a single day impact of reducing the CHF against the EUR by 8.8%, the USD by 9.5% and an average of 8.2% against sixteen other major currencies. This had been the case from 1978 through 2011, but in 2011 the Swiss National Bank, in an unprecedented announcement and unanticipated move, issued a statement that the current exchange rate with the euro was getting too high and that it was threatening the stability of the Swiss economy, therefore the Swiss National Bank was willing to purchase an unlimited amount of foreign currency to rectify the problem.
![swiss frank exchange rates swiss frank exchange rates](http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/images/2012/May/euro-swis-25.gif)
Though the Swiss National Bank has stated targets of price stability, their actions have shown they are willing to forego price stability, even at the expense of high inflation, if necessary in order to maintain a specific foreign exchange rate. There is no legitimate tracing mechanism nor potential the Swiss national bank would have to return the gold, but it is a critical piece of Swiss National Bank history that anyone must know exists in order to remain culturally literate on the Swiss National Bank. This gold having been acquired through German conquest and theft. Now listed at 1145 metric tons (each ton at 2204.6 pounds) there is currently and will always remain an issue as to the amount of gold the Swiss National Bank held for the Nazi's during World War II. No discussion of the CHF should be without brief mention of the controversy over ownership of the Swiss National Bank gold reserves.
Swiss frank exchange rates free#
The specific Swiss National Bank monetary policy at this time is keeping the Swiss consumer price index increasing at a rate below 2% and keeping the 3 month risk free rate of return in Swiss francs equal to the LIBOR. The public portion of ownership encompasses 55% of the total shares and is primarily owned by cantons, the 26 member states of Switzerland, and the 24 cantonal banks, regional specific Swiss member state owned commercial banks.Īs a central bank the primary mandate of the Swiss National Bank is to serve the best interest of Switzerland, which has been interpreted as a primary focus on price stability, but not at the expense of the economic environment as a whole. Monetary policy and issuance of the Swiss franc is managed by the Swiss National Bank which is owned both by the government and through publicly traded shares of interest available for purchase by private individuals. Throughout history there have been many currencies denominated in Francs throughout Europe but at this time the Swiss franc is the only franc in circulation.
Swiss frank exchange rates code#
The "CH" in the currency code references the Latin term Confoederatio Helvetica which can be translated as Swiss Confederation, denoting the structure of Switzerland as a confederation of 26 different states or cantons.ĥ rappen, 10 rappen, 20 rappen, 0.5 francs, 1 franc, 2 francs, 5 francs
![swiss frank exchange rates swiss frank exchange rates](https://media.dailyfx.com/illustrations/2009/11/04/USDCHF2.jpg)
While there is no official symbol for the franc, the official accounting abbreviation is "Fr" or "SFr".
![swiss frank exchange rates swiss frank exchange rates](https://media.dailyfx.com/illustrations/2011/02/09/US_Dollar_Swiss_Franc_Exchange_Rate_Forecast_body_usdchf.png)
The CHF is the sixth most traded currency and is the fifth most widely held reserve currency in the world. 1 Swiss Franc is subdivided into 100 Rappen (German), centime (French), centesimo (Italian), and rap (Romansh).ĬHF is the currency code for the Swiss Franc which is the official currency of both Switzerland and Liechtenstein, is legal tender in both of these countries and Campione d'Italia.