The last couple of weeks have seen something mysterious occur in the Swiss Franc, Amid all the chaotic economic, geopolitical, and military machinations – that have sparked a bid for gold and bonds – the Swissy, a traditional safe-haven currency, has weakened notably.
In fact the weakness has been going on since Davos in February…
So who is selling swiss francs?
Bloomberg ventures to suggest nervous Russian Tycoons may be driving the swissy selloff.
“The Swiss franc is driven predominantly by capital flows for now and Russia sanctions included Swiss companies where Russians are invested,” said Manuel Oliveri, a currency strategist at Credit Agricole SA, citing Sulzer AG as an example.
“Increased need for liquidity by Russians, and no appetite for leaving cash in Switzerland, is changing the franc’s correlation with risk sentiment,” he said, adding market speculation on this issue was hard to confirm.
As a side point, as Swissy sank this week, the market capitalization of The Swiss National Bank has collapsed by over 25%…
“The Swiss franc has been caught squarely in the Russian sanctions issue,” said Peter Rosenstreich, head of market strategy at Swissquote Bank SA.
“For a small, open economy like Switzerland getting caught in a geopolitical tug of war is extremely risky. Switzerland still derives value from safety and privacy. So when that is threatened in any way certain investors get nervous.”
So, the big question is – Are Russian oligarchs selling swissy and buying bitcoin?
The timing of the moves are certainly coincidental.
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