swaps meet these requirements very well. however, the snb lacked a separate liquidity - absorbing instrument to handle large volumes. we therefore introduced our own debt certificates – snb bills – to our range of instruments in october. snb bills allow us to be more flexible in steering liquidity. consequently, we are now in a position to offer more long - term transactions, which help calm the money markets and facilitate the steering of the threemonth libor. the financial market crisis has also shown us that the liquidity - shortage financing facility can only contribute to calming the situation in the money markets if it is actually used when needed. however, even during the crisis, it was rarely called upon. the reason for this being that the direct costs of drawing on it were relatively high, as were the indirect costs ensuing from the stigma associated with using the facility. the snb has thus decided to lower the direct and indirect costs of using the facility. to start with, we will reduce the special - rate interest premium from 200 basis points to 50 basis points. this will become effective from 1 january 2009. the snb will also make some changes to its reporting methods. in order to protect the borrower ’ s reputation, claims from the liquidity - shortage financing facility will, in future, no longer be reported separately. these two measures should encourage banks to utilise the facility ’ s limits more frequently and therefore increase their liquidity provisioning. we have also found that, in periods of turbulence, some of the data reported in our weekly publication important monetary policy data are misinterpreted, which can have a destabilising effect. to remedy this, we have decided to discontinue the real - time announcement of individual transactions and facilities. the only data relevant for the assessment of the situation in the money market are those on sight deposits and interest rates. we will therefore continue to publish these on a weekly basis. from now on, data on individual balance sheet items and monetary policy operations will only be published in the snb ’ s monthly statistical bulletin. thus, the snb essentially continues to report on its monetary policy operations in a transparent manner, the only difference being that certain data will be published less frequently. our guidelines on monetary policy instruments have been revised accordingly. these will enter into effect on 1 january 2009. transaction with ubs on 16 october, the snb announced that it had concluded an agreement with ubs on the long - term financing

and orderly liquidation of troubled assets in the amount of no more than usd 60 billion. to facilitate this transaction, a special purpose vehicle was set up at the end of november called snb stabfund limited partnership for collective investments, which is domiciled in berne. the company is structured as a two - party limited partnership. it comprises a general partner, which bears unlimited liability, and a limited partner, bearing limited liability. both will be wholly owned by the snb. the snb and ubs formed a joint project management team, which is supported when necessary by external specialists. in the meantime, the snb chose northern trust to act as custodian of the securities. we also commissioned specialised agencies to carry out an independent valuation of the portfolio. an initial tranche of assets is due to be transferred to stabfund before the end of this year. as regards the financing of stabfund, the snb will contribute 90 % of the funding in the form a loan ; ubs, 10 % in the form of equity capital. the snb is currently securing the initial financing for the operation via its swap agreement with the federal reserve, but also on the foreign exchange market. it has also initiated steps to later be able to obtain funding on the market, independent of agreements with other central banks. the transfer of assets to the stabfund will be based on prices as at 30 september 2008, with the ubs book value being compared to the value determined by snb on the basis of the independent expert opinions. the lower value will apply. in october and november, following the intensification of the financial market crisis and the global economic downturn, the prices for these assets were pushed down further. the extent of any potential loss in this initial phase of stabfund ’ s existence will only become apparent at the end of 2008 or at the end of march 2009, once the asset transfer has been completed and another comprehensive valuation has been carried out. it is important to note that stabfund is primarily pursuing a buy - and - hold - to - maturity strategy with the portfolio at present. short - term price movements have no bearing on the strategy ’ s success. a recovery of the affected markets in the long term is by far the more decisive factor here. furthermore, the snb has put in place two safety nets to cushion any losses on its loan to stabfund. first, with the 10 % of equity capital from the ubs, and