Fritz Zurbrügg: Financial markets, the management of Swiss currency reserves and interest rate benchmark reforms Introductory remarks by Mr Fritz Zurbrügg, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Berne, 12 December 2013. *  *  *  I will begin today by looking at the situation on the financial markets. Then I will talk briefly about developments in our foreign exchange holdings. I will close with a few comments on the progress that has been made in reforming interest rate benchmarks at both international and national level. Situation on financial markets Since our last media news conference in June, the positive risk sentiment on financial markets has been largely maintained, as is evident from the soaring share prices, among other things. In the past few weeks, the key US indices Dow Jones and S&P 500 have reached new record levels, thereby exceeding the peaks attained prior to the global financial crisis. In addition, Japan’s Nikkei Index and the most important western European stock exchange indices, including the Swiss SMI, have again recorded significant gains in recent months. Despite all the euphoria on the stock exchanges, we must not forget that it is not only the improvement in the economic outlook but also the continuation of the very expansionary monetary policy around the world which is behind this positive risk sentiment.
Mr Nyberg comments on how EMU may affect the Swedish housing loan market and its financing  Speech by Mr Lars Nyberg, Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, at Föreningssparbanken in Warsaw on 14 October 1999. *  *  *  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come here and give some points of view on how EMU may affect the Swedish housing loan market and its financing. This is undeniably an issue which we have every reason to take an interest in whether we take part in the monetary union or not. One of the ideas with EMU is to create a more efficient market for goods and services where competition is increasing and consumers obtain better products at lower prices. In the housing loan market, this should mean that borrowers expect a greater range of products, more suppliers and lower interest rates. How should the Swedish housing loan institutions handle this challenge? Competition for customers As we know, the national housing loan markets in Europe look rather different, which is illustrated by the following diagram (figure 1). In countries such as Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the total outstanding stock of loans with mortgages in property totalled over 50% of GDP. In other countries, including Greece and Italy, the equivalent figure is under 10%. The differences depend on factors such as the systems of rules, tax legislation and market structure which vary from country to country.