ARTICLE · 29 APRIL 2015

Negative Interest Rates – Tax Aspects

MLL Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Froriep Ltd

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In December 2014 the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced the introduction of negative interest rates on sight deposits by financial institutions with the SNB.

SwitzerlandTax

MLL Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Froriep Ltd

Michael Fischer

In December 2014 the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced the introduction of negative interest rates on sight deposits by financial institutions with the SNB. The main intention was to diminish the pressure on the then pegged rate of EUR/CHF 1.20. In January 2015 the SNB gave up on the peg with the immediate consequence of a substantial soar in the Swiss Franc. In order to allay negative consequences (especially for export oriented enterprises) the SNB tightened its negative interest rates by lowering its three months Libor to –0.75%. The SNB followed the European Central Bank (ECB) which had introduced negative interest rates beginning of June 2014 already.

In a study UBS estimates direct costs to the banking sector caused by the negative interest rates to amount to CHF 1 bn.

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