Source: http://dsbb.imf.org/pages/sdds/DQAFBase.aspx?ctycode=CHE&catcode=AAC00
Timestamp: 2018-02-19 07:38:21
Document Index: 158257515

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 16', 'art. 14', 'art. 16', 'art. 16', 'Art. 15', 'Art. 15', 'art. 19', 'art. 6', 'art. 4']

SDDS - DQAF View : Switzerland - Central bank survey
Central bank survey -Monetary base(M0)
(M0 Domestic claims Net foreign assets)
Ms. Elena Thurn
CH-8022 Zürich, Switzerland
Email: elena.thurn@snb.ch
Mrs. Diana Capaul
Zuerich, Switzerland CH-8022
Phone: (41) 044 631 37 71
Email: diana.capaul@snb.ch
The data are collected, processed and disseminated under the terms of the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank (NBA; SR 951.11), the Ordinance on the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank (NBO; SR 951.131) and the Federal Law on Data Protection (SR 235.1).
The Ordinance on the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank, its annex as well as the notes to the Ordinance on the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank provide detailed information on all the statistical surveys conducted by the Swiss National Bank.
Pursuant to art. 16 para. 4 NBA, the National Bank may exchange the data collected with the competent supervisory authorities of the Swiss financial market. Aggregated data is shared with other data producing agencies like Statistics Switzerland (art. 14 para. 2 NBA). The data producing agencies coordinate their activities so as to not duplicate efforts and to minimize the reporting burden on reporting institutions.
The Swiss National Bank must maintain confidentiality with respect to the data collected (art. 16 para. 1 NBA). To maintain confidentiality, it publishes data in aggregated form (art. 16 para. 2 NBA).
Art. 15 para. 1 NBA requires banks, exchanges, securities dealers as well as fund management companies of Swiss investment funds and representatives of foreign investment funds to provide the National Bank with statistical data relating to their activities. Art. 15 para. 2 NBA furthermore requires other natural persons or legal entities, including insurance companies, pension funds, investment and holding companies, operators of payment and securities settlement systems pursuant to art. 19 para. 1 NBA, and Swiss Post to provide the National Bank with statistical data.
Arts. 22, 23 and 24 NBA lay down the measures and sanctions open to the National Bank should a reporting institution fail to comply with the requirement to provide statistical data to the National Bank.
Both the number of staff and computing resources are adequate to perform the required tasks. Computer applications for conducting statistical surveys are generally developed in-house. The National Bank draws up its own budget and can therefore ensure adequate financing of its statistical activities.
The NBA lays down various checks and balances to ensure that resources are used efficiently, e.g. through the requirement to submit the annual report and annual accounts to the Federal Council and the Shareholders’ Meeting.
User requirements are monitored through various channels: expert groups comprising external users of the data, close cooperation with internal data users, participation in international working groups and conferences.
Quality of the data is essential. Processes, staff selection as well as training and computer applications thus focus on ensuring data quality.
Quality is monitored through a variety of measures. Among them is for instance the obligation of banks’ external auditors to examine whether the duty to provide information has been duly observed. They shall lay down their findings in the auditing report. They shall notify the National Bank and the competent supervisory authority whenever they ascertain any violation, in particular if incorrect information has been provided. Data quality is explicitly reflected in the strategic goals of the Statistics Department. Management is aware of trade-offs among dimensions of quality, such as between consistency with other data sets and maintaining a regular and transparent revision schedule or between timeliness and accuracy. These trade-offs are taken into account when choices are made.
Data quality is explicitly reflected in the strategic goals of the Statistics Department. Management is aware of trade-offs among dimensions of quality, such as between consistency with other data sets and maintaining a regular and transparent revision schedule or between timeliness and accuracy. These trade-offs are taken into account when choices are made.
The NBA establishes the Swiss National Bank as an independent agency (art. 6 NBA). In compiling statistics the Swiss National Bank follows the principles laid down in the Swiss Official Statistics’ Charter.
Decisions on data sources and statistical techniques are guided by statistical considerations only. Choices of data sources and statistical techniques are made on the basis of statistical research, other countries’ experiences, and the guidelines of international institutions, taking into account country-specific conditions and the benefit/cost of expanding statistical collections. The principles of data collection are laid down in art. 4 NBO and stipulate inter alia that the National Bank shall not collect statistical data in cases where it can draw on existing, sufficiently pertinent, statistics or if it can procure data of a comparable quality by other means within the available time.
The National Bank provides explanatory material (e.g. methodological notes and footnotes) to users to prevent misinterpretation or misuse of statistics. It monitors media coverage of all its activities including statistics. When erroneous interpretations of the statistics occur, the Communication Department may inform the media appropriately.
Both the NBA as well as the NBO are available on the website of the National Bank (http://www.snb.ch/en/iabout/snb/legal/id/snb_legal_law).
There is no governmental access to the data before their release to the public. The sole exception pertains to the exchange of individual reporters’ data with the competent supervisory authorities of the Swiss financial market.
All data compiled by the National Bank are clearly identified as the National Bank’s product. The National Bank’s publications are easily recognizable by the logo and a common layout. On each page of all hard copy publications, the National Bank is identified in the footer.
Changes in methodology are explained in the pertinent statistical publications. When major changes occur, advance information is also provided.
Guidelines for staff behavior are found in the bank-wide Code of Conduct (http://www.snb.ch/en/mmr/reference/Verhaltenscodex/source/Verhaltenscodex.en.pdf). This Code of Conduct summarizes the most important principles and regulations governing staff conduct, thereby ensuring that staff act with integrity and in accordance with applicable rules.
Analytical framework: The balance sheet of the Swiss National Bank is the basis for the data published in the Central bank survey.
The balance sheet of the Swiss National Bank shows the main components:
The monetary base includes banknotes in circulation and sight deposit accounts of domestic banks.
Gross foreign assets are classified into gold, foreign currency investments, reserve position in the IMF, international payment instruments (SDRs) and monetary assistance loans.
Domestic assets are classified into claims from repo transactions, domestic money market claims,claims against domestic correspondents, domestic securities and other assets.
The SNB does not grant long-term credits to the general government (article 11 of the National Bank Act). However the SNB does hold general government securities acquired in the secondary market. They are shown separately.
The statistical methodology refers to the Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual, 2000 (Washington, D.C.: IMF, 2000), www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/mfs/manual/index.htm.
The data published in the balance sheet reflect the total operations of the Swiss National Bank. No branches of the central bank are excluded from the accounts.
Gold holdings and gold claims are stated at market value.
Negotiable securities (money market instruments, bonds and equities) as well as credit balances (sight deposits and call money, time deposits) and claims from foreign currency repo transactions are recorded under foreign currency investments. Securities, which make up the bulk of the foreign currency investments, are stated at market value inclusive of accrued interest, while credit balances and claims from repo transactions are stated at nominal value inclusive of accrued interest.
Market values are stated at quarter ends only.
Whenever possible, derivative financial instruments are stated at market value. If no market value is available, fair value is determined in accordance with generally recognised actuarial methods. Positive or negative replacement values are stated under other assets or other liabilities respectively.
The reserve position in the IMF is valued at the nominal value plus accrued interest.
Other items are stated at their nominal value.
All the basic data are taken from the central bank balance sheet.
Reported figures for the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) are taken from the balance sheet of the Swiss National Bank.
Statistical adjustments: None.
Neither estimations for missing values nor seasonal adjustments have to be made.
The SNB has extensive control mechanisms in place for the prevention or early identification of errors in financial reporting (accounting procedures and bookkeeping).
Data verification of statistical data is provided by internal review.
Intermediate results are unaudited. The external auditors only audit the annual financial statements.
The data in the Central bank survey are disseminated in Swiss francs (CHF), based on the Swiss National Bank (SNB) balance sheet and on the weekly press release named Important monetary policy data.
The data are published on the SNB data portal (https://data.snb.ch/en).
The Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank provides the rules for the publication of a press release entitled Important monetary policy data.