Andréa M Maechler: Financial markets and the progress made in reference interest rate reform

Speech by Ms Andréa M Maechler, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Berne, 13 December 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

I will begin with a review of developments on the financial markets and look at the status of the Swiss franc. After that I will say a few words about the upcoming transition from Libor to SARON as the new reference interest rate in Switzerland and inform you about progress being made on this front.

Situation on the financial markets

So let me start with developments on the financial markets.

In the second half of the year, sentiment on the financial markets darkened considerably at times, despite the fact that the economic situation in many countries remained sound. Nonetheless, the economic data did weaken slightly in some regions.