For the gold sales it was planning, the SNB was allocated a quota not claimed by other central banks that were party to the agreement of 2004. The SNB has chosen an approach for its gold sales that will avoid market unrest, with regular sales transactions. The Swiss National Bank holds currency reserves in the form of foreign currency and gold, thereby ensuring that it has room for manoeuvre in its monetary policy at all times. As a result of the sharp rise in the price of gold, the proportion of the currency reserves held as gold has increased by about a quarter since mid 2005, from 33% to the current level of 42%. The purpose of the SNB's gold sales is to rebalance the composition of currency reserves with respect to its monetary policy requirements. Moreover, by reducing its gold reserves and increasing its foreign exchange reserves, the overall risk on SNB assets will decline. Once the sales have been completed, the Swiss National Bank's gold holdings will amount to some 1,040 tonnes. 2. Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) to celebrate its 20th anniversary  Over the next few days, the Swiss Interbank Clearing System SIC will celebrate its 20th anniversary. In 1987, the introduction of the SIC payment system represented a revolution for Swiss payment transactions. SIC was one of the first payment systems in the world of the type known as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS).
Thomas Jordan: Currency reserve adjustments, the SIC payments system and financial market developments Introductory remarks by Mr Thomas Jordan, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the half-yearly media news conference, Berne, 14 June 2007. *  *  *  In my remarks, I would like to address three topics. First, I will speak about the adjustments in the composition of our currency reserves. Then, I would like to comment on the Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) payment system and its twenty years of existence. At the end, I will say a few words about developments in the financial markets. 1. Adjustments in the composition of currency reserves  The Swiss National Bank is adjusting the composition of its currency reserves. Before the end of September 2009 it will sell 250 tonnes of gold and increase its foreign exchange reserves by a corresponding amount. The overall level of currency reserves will remain unchanged. The gold sales fall within the bounds set by the second Gold Agreement of 8 March 2004, in which the central banks of the Eurosystem, plus the Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank, agreed to limit their gold sales over a period of five years, beginning on 28 September 2004. The Gold Agreement specifies that annual sales by all signatories may not exceed 500 tonnes and that the total sales volume over this period shall not amount to more than 2,500 tonnes.