Without it, Switzerland as a financial centre and a leader in wealth management would lose its attractiveness. Moreover, only a stable and healthy banking sector can transmit the SNB’s monetary policy to domestic monetary conditions effectively. Overall, our economy could not prosper with impaired financial intermediation. That is why, in addition to being responsible for monetary policy, the SNB also has the task of contributing to the stability of the financial system. The financial system itself should not be a source of excessive risk for the rest of the economy. Failures resulting from excessive risktaking can affect the whole financial system and prove extremely costly for the economy. Stringent capital and liquidity requirements and self-regulation by the banking industry are essential for enhancing financial stability. There is also a broad consensus that macroprudential tools are required to address systemic risk. We therefore analyse sources of risk to the financial system continuously, and identify areas where action is needed. 5 In addition, we help design and implement a regulatory framework for the financial sector. We also oversee systemically important financial market infrastructures. Our aim is to increase the resilience of the financial sector by mitigating systemic risk. To ensure this, we work closely with the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the Federal Department of Finance and various international standard-setting bodies. The adjustment of the “too big to fail” regulations approved by the Federal Council on 21 October is an example of such cooperation. The new capital requirements will strengthen the resilience of the Swiss banking system considerably.
Thomas Jordan: The Swiss National Bank’s monetary policy and the Swiss financial centre Speech by Mr Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the first meeting of the “Rencontres économiques de Genève”, organized by Fondation Genève Place Financière, Institut National Genevois, Investment Strategists Association of Geneva, Geneva, 3 November 2015. *  *  *  The speaker would like to thank Samuel Reynard and Rina Rosenblatt for their valuable support in preparing this speech, and Katrin Assenmacher, Petra Gerlach and Rita Kobel for their helpful comments. Introduction It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you tonight in Geneva, a key pillar of the Swiss financial sector. I also feel very honoured to be addressing you at the very first meeting of the “Rencontres économiques de Genève”. Indeed, the financial centre of Geneva is also important from an international point of view. Its roots as a financial centre go back several hundred years. In the early 18th century, the minute Republic of Geneva was one of six major international financial centres, together with London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Brussels. It owed its ascent to its cosmopolitanism. Several factors bear witness to this, including the city’s political neutrality and the fact that it welcomed protestant Huguenots who had been persecuted in France. In the 18th century, close personal relationships were established with the leading Parisian banks and the French court. In this way, Geneva bankers were eventually among the main financiers of France.