Group Suggests Rotating Chairmanship For Swiss National Bank

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) might consider implementing a rotating chairmanship approach as it looks for a successor to Chairman Thomas Jordan, who is set to step down later this year, according to Yvan Lengwiler, chairman of the SNB Observatory, a group advocating for accountability at the SNB. Jordan, who has been at the helm for 12 years, announced his decision to step down last month. SNB Vice Chairman Martin Schlegel has emerged as a potential candidate to replace Jordan, as suggested by Swiss media and experts.

Lengwiler proposed the idea of rotating the chairman role to distribute decision making responsibilities more evenly among the members of the SNB's rate-setting governing board, which currently comprises three members: Jordan, Schlegel and newcomer Antoine Martin, formerly of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Drawing a parallel to Switzerland's rotating presidency model, where each member of the seven member cabinet serves as president for one year, Lengwiler argued that this approach would promote greater equality in the decision making process at the SNB.

Stefan Gerlach, another member of the Observatory and a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, expressed concern about Jordan's perceived dominance at the SNB, suggesting that the decision making process had become more centralised under his leadership. Gerlach emphasised the importance of collective decision making at the SNB, indicating that the identity of the chairman should be less significant.

In addition, the Observatory recommended that the SNB conduct a broader search for new members to its governing board, highlighting the importance of considering external candidates to prevent the risk of societal perspectives being overlooked. However, the SNB declined to comment on the report.