SNB makes profit on forex and gold

13/01 15:13 CET

economy

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The Swiss National Bank has said it expects to have made a profit for 2011 thanks to gains from its foreign currency positions and a rise in the value of its gold holdings.

The 13 billion franc (10.7 billion euros) profit compares to a 26 billion franc loss on its forex holdings in 2010 — its biggest ever — due to currency interventions to weaken the franc.

The profit boosts the bank’s credibility coming as it does just days after its chairman, Phillip Hildebrand, had to step down over a scandal involving foreign exchange trades by his wife.

Switzerland’s 26 cantons (states) are the central bank’s biggest shareholders and the SNB said it will distribute a total of 1 billion francs (826 million euros) in dividends to the cantons and the federal government.

More about: Banking, President, Resignation, Switzerland

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