- pierre roth, an internal seminar on the history of the swiss currency in the 19th and 20th centuries was organised in the autumn of 2008 and in the spring of 2009. it became clear that no work yet existed which covered the entire period of the history of the swiss franc. it was this realisation that laid the foundation for this book. the book was ultimately written by expanding on the material derived from the internal seminar. as you will be able to conclude for yourself after reading the work, the result can certainly be considered a resounding success. the book by professor baltensperger is a beautifully illustrated work with fascinating contents. it is not only an attractive book, but is also a very valuable working tool. a special feature of this history of the swiss currency is that it was not written by a historian, but from the perspective of a monetary theorist. nevertheless, the author is not only an outstanding monetary theorist and academic teacher, he also has rich practical experience hans von keler, * 1925, german theologist. bis central bankers ’ speeches as an economic policy advisor. the snb ’ s governing board would like to thank ernst baltensperger for having made such a significant contribution to the understanding of the swiss franc. we would also like to thank the publishing house, nzz libro, and all the individuals participating in this project for their careful handling and publishing of this book. it is now my pleasure to give the floor to hans - peter thur. bis central bankers ’ speeches

news conference berne, 13 june 2019 fritz zurbrugg introductory remarks by fritz zurbrugg in my remarks today, i will present the key findings from this year ’ s financial stability report, published by the swiss national bank this morning. in the first part of my speech, i will talk about the big banks, before going on, in the second part, to outline our assessment of the situation at the domestically focused banks. big banks the global economic and financial market conditions that the two swiss big banks are facing have become slightly more difficult since our assessment this time last year. nevertheless, further progress has been achieved in implementing the revised ‘ too big to fail ’ regulations. this holds true for both areas covered by the regulations : resilience and resolution. as regards resilience, the swiss big banks credit suisse and ubs have slightly improved their capital situation overall. as a result, they are now close to full compliance with the lookthrough going - concern capital requirements on a consolidated basis. the current calibration of these regulatory requirements is necessary to ensure adequate resilience at both banks. this is confirmed by both our loss potential analyses and the historical loss experience during the last financial crisis. the market ’ s assessment of the two big banks ’ resilience is generally similar to that of the previous year. their stand - alone ratings, which evaluate the intrinsic financial strength of the banks, assuming no extraordinary external support, remain unchanged. furthermore, after rising in the second half of 2018, credit default swap premia are now back at roughly the same level as in mid - 2018. in the area of resolution, the swiss big banks have improved their gone - concern lossabsorbing capacity since last year ’ s financial stability report. credit suisse and ubs already meet all look - through requirements on a consolidated basis. page 1 / 3 berne, 13 june 2019 fritz zurbrugg news conference in addition to those at group level, the federal council has drawn up requirements on big banks ’ loss - absorbing capacity at the level of individual group entities, and in early april initiated a consultation on a corresponding amendment to the capital adequacy ordinance. these requirements are intended to ensure that not only the group as a whole, but also material group entities have sufficient loss - absorbing capital in the event of a crisis. the snb supports the proposed amendments to the capital adequacy ordinance. work is also underway with regard to liquidity in