The Swiss National Bank has joined other major central banks in reducing the frequency of its dollar swap operations from July 1, 2020. This move aligns with broader monetary policy efforts such as the
FINMA liquidity measures, introduced to support financial stability during the crisis.
Due to the improvements in U.S. dollar funding conditions and the low demand at recent 7-day maturity U.S. dollar liquidity-providing transactions, several major banks - the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank - in consultation with the Federal Reserve, have jointly concluded to reduce the frequency of their 7-day operations from daily to three times per week. A similar trend of easing pressure is seen in other financial indicators, including the
modernization of income tax to support domestic economic activity. This change will come into force from July 1 2020. At the same time, the mentioned banks will continue to hold weekly operations with an 84-day maturity. These changes follow a series of supervisory adjustments, including the
LIBOR replacement FINMA, aimed at increasing long-term stability.
These central banks are to re-adjust the provision of U.S dollar liquidity as warranted by market conditions. The swap lines among the mentioned major banks are available standing facilities and serve as a significant liquidity backstop to relieve strains in global funding markets. In parallel, Switzerland continues to enhance its economic resilience through innovation-friendly initiatives, such as supporting the
Swiss trademarks popularity to strengthen intellectual property protections. The aim is to help to mitigate the effects of strains on the supply of credit to households as well as businesses, domestically and abroad. Such support measures are reinforced by comprehensive reporting efforts like the
FINMA 2019 report, which outlines the broader regulatory framework.