Euro / Swiss Franc - EUR/CHF

Considered by investors as a defensive security, the Swiss Franc (CHF) tends to appreciate when economical turbulences and/or bearish markets win at a worldwide level.

In case of growth, (2002-2007), the Swiss Franc keeps increasing against the American Dollar (USD), only thanks to the “qualities” of the Swiss financial and banking system (important gold reserves of the National Bank of Swiss (NBS), banking secrecy, low taxation of investment income) but also thanks to the low interest rates policy run by the NBS in this growth period, policy that widely encouraged the “carry trade” operations to the benefit of a strong Swiss Franc.

As all the great Central banks clearly decreased the key interest rates in order to favor the recovery, these data have been modifying since 2008.

In relation to the Euro (EUR) and during the same growth period (2002-2007), but also and more precisely from the effective entry into circulation of the Euro, we observed an about 15% slow recession of the Swiss Franc (in about 5 years) against the European currency.

So the EUR/CHD cross went from an exchange value of 1.4500 at the beginning of 2002 to the value 1.6699 in mid-2007.

This depreciation of the Swiss franc against the Euro worried the Swiss monetary and financial authorities (Is the CHF still a defensive security?) whereas happened a balancing founded on macro-economic data and the respective economical situations of the Euro area countries and of Switzerland.

From the Summer of 2007 and in a context of world banking and stock-exchange crisis that will get worse during the Fall of 2008, the CHF will gain ground on Euro, with its new role as a defensive security that have always been its in turbulences period.

So the EUR/CHF cross lists at 1.4431 by the end of October 2008, a small adjustment intervenes after, and then a new depreciation of the Swiss Franc happened.

In April 2009, the exchange rate EUR/CHF lists at about 1.50 and we have the value EUR/CHF = 1.5139 in October 2009.