Eyewitness NewsGENEVA -- Switzerland's central bank said Saturday that it will revise regulations on transactions by its top officials amid controversy over the role of its president in private currency deals conducted as he led efforts to soften the Swiss franc. The Swiss National Bank said its supervisory body, the bank council, decided to embark on a "comprehensive revision" of regulations concerning "own-account transactions involving financial instruments" by members of its six-member enlarged governing board.
That review will be conducted with help from external specialists, a bank statement said, calling for draft regulations to be submitted "as soon as possible."
It added that outside auditors will review all bank transactions undertaken by members of the enlarged governing board between Jan.1, 2009 and the end of 2011.
Until the bank's regulations have been revised, board members and other staff members with access to privileged information will be required to get approval from the SNB's chief compliance officer for any foreign exchange transactions of more than 20,000 francs ($20,970), the bank said.
Bank chief Philipp Hildebrand says he followed the bank's internal rules when he and his wife ordered U.S. dollar swaps while he was spearheading efforts to lower the value of the franc.
On Thursday, he dismissed suggestions that he should resign over the profitable private currency deals, saying his only mistake was to let his American wife conduct a particularly sensitive transaction from their joint account.
Hildebrand acknowledged that three dollar deals totaling more than $2 million - the most sensitive of which he said was conducted by his wife, Kashya - could be misinterpreted and damage his reputation. But he insisted that he would stay on as long as he had the support of the SNB's board and Swiss authorities.
Both the central bank and the Swiss government have publicly backed Hildebrand, stating that an external audit in December cleared him of wrongdoing.
---
GET THE LATEST NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS FROM ABCNEWS.COM
---
Get Eyewitness News Delivered
Facebook | Twitter | Newsletters | Text Alerts
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more U.S. & World News »u.s. & world news
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário