none of the banks have so far provided what i would regard as a clear and quantified statement of their policy with respect to adjustments of the svr interest rate. as such, it avoided the devastating squeeze on profitability which led to the insolvency of a large part of the us savings and loans industry in the 1980s. bis central bankers ’ speeches in my opinion, good business practice of the banks would demand that they make upward adjustments to svr rates only following clear and objective changes in prevailing business conditions ( not only funding costs ) ; good business practice would also call on them to lower svr rates when the same conditions move in the opposite direction. to regain the trust of their customers, i believe that the banks should move to publishing a clear and quantified statement of their svr interest rate policy. since they do not seem to have such a policy, they will need to develop one. if necessary, drawing on its legislative powers for consumer protection, the central bank will codify such a requirement formally, but this should not be necessary. broader considerations while insisting on transparency may seem to be an insufficient official response to the manner in which the spread of svr rates has drifted up, i would insist on my words of caution against the enacting of legislation that would provide for officially - administered lending rates. nothing could be more likely to curtail and discourage entry of new competitors into irish banking, and without the possibility of such entry, i cannot see that banking can recover the operational efficiency and competitive pricing that is essential for ireland in the long run. for the sake of modestly lower svrs for a few quarters, a much larger and quasipermanent albeit somewhat invisible loss would be incurred by the customers of the banking system in ireland. well - capitalised banks operating more competitively will, in the end, offer lower rates and better service. besides, close administrative control of interest rates would not be easily compatible with the principle of an open market economy with free competition which has underpinned the considerable increase in national prosperity over the past half century in ireland ( and which of course is enshrined in the european union treaty ). this is not a matter to be taken lightly or opportunistically for what would clearly be at best a transitory advantage. the health and ability of the banks to contribute to the needed services to the economy certainly requires them to operate on a profitable basis. 2 also, they are required by the terms of

speech embargo 30 april 2021, 10. 00 am snb distributions – not a matter of course even when profits are high 113th ordinary general meeting of shareholders of the swiss national bank thomas j. jordan chairman of the governing board swiss national bank zurich, 30 april 2021 © swiss national bank ( speech given in german ) page 1 / 7 madam president of the bank council dear shareholders dear guests a warm welcome to you all to our annual general meeting. the pandemic has brought great suffering for many people. at the same time, coronavirus has posed unexpected challenges for the economy and politics in switzerland. it has also placed a heavy burden on the finances of many households and companies, and on the public sector as well. our sympathy goes to all those who have been affected by the disease or have lost people dear to them. from a professional perspective, our efforts are focused on the contribution that the swiss national bank can make within its mandate towards reducing the economic impact of the pandemic on our country. in the past months, we have used every means at our disposal to perform our mandate as well as we possibly can, even in adverse circumstances. our policy is aimed at helping the people in switzerland to get through these difficult times. by curbing the strong upward pressure on the swiss franc through extensive foreign exchange market interventions, and by providing financing for covid - 19 loans on favourable terms via our new snb covid - 19 refinancing facility, we have made an important contribution to stabilising the swiss economy in this once - in - a - century crisis. nevertheless, we are still frequently confronted with demands that the snb should do more. and what is meant by ‘ more ’ is above all increased distributions. i would therefore like to use my speech today to discuss the snb ’ s profit distributions. who owns the snb ’ s profits and how are they generated? the profits generated by the snb and the distributions it makes were the subject of discussion in switzerland long before the coronavirus pandemic broke out. there was already heated debate on this more than 100 years ago, as the rules governing the distribution of profits were one of the most contentious issues in the run - up to the creation of the snb. the cantonal banks had to cede the right to issue banknotes to the newly established central bank, and the cantons wanted compensation in return. the fundamental question of how the profits generated by the snb were to be