Philipp Hildebrand: Key factors for the Swiss economy - financial market
regulation in Switzerland
Speech by Mr Philipp Hildebrand, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National
Bank, Swiss Economic Forum, Interlaken, 4 June 2010.
The complete speech can be found in German on the Swiss National Bank's website.
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The financial system is the life blood of our economy. Key measures to increase the
resilience of the financial system have already been implemented in Switzerland. However,
they have not addressed the fundamental problem, which is that systemically important
banks cannot at present be allowed to fail.
The commission of experts set up by the government to examine ways of alleviating this
problem published its interim report a few weeks ago. The report proposes measures in the
areas of capital, liquidity and organisational structure. This approach is in line with the key
points on the Financial Stability Board's agenda. The interim report is an important milestone
in the efforts to address the "too big to fail" issue.
Naturally, we still face considerable challenges. Moreover, cross-border solutions are required
for the "too big to fail" question. The commission's proposals represent a constructive step
towards global cooperation.
If the key points on the Financial Stability Board's agenda are not implemented in the major
financial centres, we will ultimately be left empty handed. One of the few positive aspects of
the financial crisis has been the unprecedented international collaboration to combat the
crisis and the endeavours to cooperate internationally on regulatory reform. Successful
further cooperation along these lines is in the interests of us all.