Swiss central bank supervisor not seeking re-election

The head of the Swiss central bank’s supervisory council Hansueli Raggenbass will not stand for re-election, the bank said on Friday.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is already without a board chairman after the resignation last month of Philipp Hildebrand amid a foreign exchange trade scandal involving his wife.

The bank stood by Hildebrand, saying an audit had proved he did not break the rules, but the council also came under fire and launched a review of regulations on financial transactions carried out by its board members.

The revised rules are expected to be approved next month.

“Bank council president Hansueli Raggenbass has informed the bank council and the president of the Federal Council, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, of his decision not to stand for re-election at the end of his 2008-2012 term of office,” the SNB said.

In a statement the bank said the new regulations would contain “far-reaching restrictions on financial investments made by members of the SNB management.”

The council is also tasked with nominating a candidate to replace Hildebrand to the Federal Council in April.

The bank chief stepped down in January after conceding that he was unable to prove he did not know about a dollar deal by his wife weeks before an intervention by the SNB to halt the rise of the franc — a move that saw the dollar rise significantly against the Swiss currency.