is foreign - owned. foreign banks contribute around 2 % to switzerland ’ s gross domestic product, which makes them as important as the swiss insurance industry and even more important than, for example, the watchmaking or the food industries. what are the reasons for switzerland ’ s success as a financial centre? for more than a century switzerland has enjoyed peace. this has enabled it to develop conditions that are favourable to the economy as a whole, but especially to the financial sector. among other benefits are political and economic stability, relatively moderate taxation, a reasonable regulatory environment, a very well - developed infrastructure and, not least, an independent monetary policy. the positive interaction of these various factors have in turn produced a strong currency, low inflation, a large current account surplus and, in international terms, a low interest rate level. these have been crucial factors in maintaining switzerland ’ s attractiveness as a market in which to invest. in addition to the positive macroeconomic environment, efficiency and technical know - how are equally crucial for our success. this applies particularly to companies exposed to intense and global competition like the banking industry. over many years the swiss financial sector has been nurturing qualities such as efficiency, a diversified and globally oriented range of services and a highly educated workforce. technological innovations in the area of electronic payments, the electronic stock market and automated settlement systems have given swiss banks a further comparative advantage in terms of international competition. close cross - border cooperation has been established with other european centres. our stock exchange for blue - chips is located in london, our future exchange is associated with the german exchange. while technical and professional know - how are important, integrity, reputation and trustworthiness are more and more of the essence. swiss banking secrecy has sometimes proved a source of misunderstanding and even tension in our relations with our partners. the objective of our bank secrecy is to protect the private sphere and to enhance the depositors ’ confidence in the banking system. it does not aim at encouraging tax evasion or protecting funds of dubious origin. as i mentioned earlier on, an agreement on the taxation of savings has recently been negotiated with the eu. eu deposits with swiss banks will be subject to a withholding tax whose proceeds will be transferred to the country of origin of the funds. within this new tax regime no harmful tax competition between switzerland and the eu will take place despite the presence of bank secrecy. the importance we give to the integrity of our banking system can also be highlighted by our efforts made to combat money laundering and terrorist

that in order to ensure appropriate monetary conditions, we would consider selling foreign currency in addition to policy rate increases. in the fourth quarter of 2022, we sold foreign currency worth around chf 27 billion. foreign currency sales, together with the increase in the snb policy rate, contribute to the tightening of monetary policy. they help to dampen imported inflation. we will also sell foreign currency in the future if this is appropriate from the monetary policy perspective. however, the development of inflation and thus the outlook for monetary policy are currently highly uncertain ; therefore, we conversely also remain willing to buy foreign currency if necessary, i. e. if there were to be excessive appreciation pressure on the swiss franc. ladies and gentlemen, i now hand over to martin schlegel. liquidity assistance loans ladies and gentlemen, allow me to explain how the snb is providing liquidity to credit suisse and ubs. the liquidity is being granted on three levels. first, both banks have unrestricted access to the snb ’ s already long - established facilities. the banks can obtain liquidity against high - quality securities under the liquidity - shortage financing facility ( lsff ). this serves to bridge unexpected liquidity bottlenecks in the short term. furthermore, the snb provides emergency liquidity assistance ( ela ). ela loans are covered by collateral in the form of swiss mortgages transferred to the snb or pledged securities. second, credit suisse and ubs have access to additional liquidity assistance ( ela + ). this possibility was created on 16 march 2023 based on an emergency ordinance by the federal page 4 / 6 zurich, 23 march 2023 thomas jordan, martin schlegel and andrea m. maechler news conference council. the emergency ordinance allows for emergency liquidity assistance of up to chf 100 billion without collateral being delivered. however, the claim is secured by means of preferential rights in bankruptcy proceedings. preferential rights in bankruptcy proceedings mean that, in the event of bankruptcy, the snb ’ s claim would be repaid with high priority. only a few other claims take precedence over the snb loan, such as wages or deposits covered by depositor protection. third, credit suisse can access liquidity assistance of up to chf 100 billion under a public liquidity backstop ( plb ). this possibility was also created on 16 march 2023 based on an emergency ordinance by the federal council. this s