Swiss Central Bank Opens Singapore Office

The Swiss National Bank is opening a branch in Singapore to allow for round-the-clock management of its foreign exchange reserves, which it needs to tap to defend the safe-haven franc from over-heating.

The SNB, which imposed a 1.20 per euro limit on the soaring franc in 2011 to prevent a recession and deflation, has had to intervene heavily to keep the lid on the currency, swelling foreign exchange reserves to 72 percent of national output.

“A local presence will allow the SNB to extend its coverage of markets in Asia, and will facilitate its round-the-clock operations on the foreign exchange market – for example, to enforce the minimum exchange rate,” it said in a statement.

The SNB said the move also came against the backdrop of attempts to diversify its investments, currently largely held in highly-rated government debt in euros, dollars and pounds sterling.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza