The paper studies the profit distribution and portfolio management of the Swiss National Bank in comparison with the behavior of other European central banks.It is shown that the SNB's behavior is unique in a number of respects : Relatively to the countries size, it holds the largest gold reserves, the largest amount of unhedged dollar assets, and the largest amount of foreign assets. Futhermore, the SNB violates the spirit of the law and constitution by paying out only a very small share of its profits. The reture it has earned on its investments is unsatisfactory. We conclude that the law should be revised, the country should gradually sell its gold reserves, and the countries' assets shoud be invested more intelligently, preferably by private institutions.
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Length: 53 pages Date of creation: Sep 1997 Date of revision: Publication status: Published in Revue Economique et Sociale, 1997, pp. 203-254 Handle: RePEc:lau:crdeep:9709
Find related papers by JEL classification: E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies E59 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Other