Swiss Central Bank Eases Access to Liquidity Help for Banks (1)

The Swiss National Bank is reforming how it provides liquidity to banks under stress, responding to criticism of its existing framework that followed the Credit Suisse crisis.

Switzerland’s central bank will enable lenders to draw a pre-set amount of money from the new Extended Liquidity Facility without having to confirm that they have already exhausted market funding or that they are solvent, Vice President Antoine Martin said in a speech on Tuesday.

The new facility will encompass the current Emergency Liquidity Assistance, known as ELA, and aims to reduce the stigma associated with drawing money from it, he said ...