Swiss ex-central bank chief to get 12 months pay

Switzerland’s former central bank chief will receive a full 12 months salary after quitting in a scandal over foreign exchange trades by his wife, the bank said on Thursday.

Philipp Hildebrand, who announced he was stepping down with immediate effect on Monday, is entitled to a year’s pay under Swiss National Bank (SNB) rules, it said, provoking criticism from the country’s largest political party.

The pay covers a six-month notice period plus compensation for an SNB ban on Hildebrand, 48, taking up a position with another bank for six months.

Senior executives who leave the central bank may take up work in a different field immediately if it is agreed by its governing council.

The SNB did not disclose Hildebrand’s salary but according to a bank management report he received 861,900 Swiss francs (710,000 euros) in 2010. He joined the bank in 2003 and became its chairman in January 2010.

Hildebrand quit after conceding he had no conclusive evidence 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.

Kashya Hildebrand, who profited after buying $504,000 (396,000 euros) last August, said she had failed her husband by not considering that it could have been perceived as a conflict of interest.

An independent investigation into the couple’s transactions cleared them of any wrongdoing, but the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) criticised his pay-off.

“It’s not right that despite his unlawful behaviour he should still collect an entire year’s salary,” the party said in a statement.