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General Meeting of Shareholders of the Swiss National Bank
approves the annual report and the annual accounts and decides
how the net profit should be used. The General Meeting is also
responsible for electing some of the members of the
Bank Council.
Since the National Bank is a joint-stock company incorporated
under special public law and fulfils a special public
function, the powers of the General Meeting are narrower than
at other joint-stock companies.
In the past gold and other precious metals were used as payment instruments, mainly in the form of coins. Later on, gold - being a scarce commodity - was used as an "anchor" for currencies and as a means of maintaining confidence in paper money. Central banks were long obliged to redeem their banknotes against gold on demand. Nowadays this is no longer the case. However, many countries, including Switzerland, continue to hold part of their foreign exchange reserves in gold as a precaution in the event of a serious crisis.
The senior management of the Swiss National Bank.
The Governing Board is made up of three persons: the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and one other member.
These three persons, together with their deputies, constitute
the Enlarged Governing Board. The Governing Board is primarily
responsible for monetary policy, asset management strategy and
international monetary cooperation. The Enlarged Governing
Board is responsible for the operational management of the
Swiss National Bank. The members of the Governing Board and
their deputies are appointed by the Federal Council on the
basis of a proposal from the Bank Council.
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