Swiss National Bank : Issuance calendar for Confederation bonds and money market debt register claims in 2018

Press release

P.O. Box, CH-8022 Zurich Telephone +41 58 631 00 00 communications@snb.ch

Zurich, 5 December 2017

Based on current planning, funds amounting to some CHF 4 billion have to be raised on the market in the year ahead. As a positive set of accounts is expected and liquidity is to be reduced, the funding requirement is quite small despite a bond of CHF 6.8 billion maturing.

The FFA is planning to cover the funding requirement with the issuance of bonds. The gross issuance of CHF 4.0 billion (2017: CHF 4.4 billion) includes not only the face value, but also premiums (cf. box). As market interest rates are again likely to be lower than most bond coupons in 2018, premiums of around CHF 0.5 billion are expected. Accordingly, the face value of the planned issuance will be CHF 3.5 billion. Taking account of maturities, the nominal value of outstanding capital market debt can be expected to be reduced by approximately CHF 3.3 billion (2017: CHF 1.7 billion).

Bond auctions always take place between 9.30 am and 11 am on the second Wednesday of the month. No auction is held in August. The dates in April and October are optional. The FFA

will announce in good time whether or not the auction will take place. The bonds to be issued (maturities) and the payment date are announced the day before the auction.

The auction dates for Confederation bonds (cf. issuance calendar) are:

10.01.2018

14.02.2018

14.03.2018

11.04.2018 (optional date)

09.05.2018

13.06.2018

11.07.2018

12.09.2018

10.10.2018 (optional date)

14.11.2018

12.12.2018

The federal budget's cash inflow was higher than expected in 2017. The FFA thus left the volume of outstanding money market debt register claims at the relatively low level of CHF 7-8 billion to avoid an excessive increase in liquidity. The Federal Treasury will also keep the volume at this level in 2018.

Money market debt register claims are issued weekly on Tuesdays; the payment date is two days later (Thursday). As with bonds, the subscription period runs from 9.30 am to 11 am. The auction details can be found in the issuance calendar.

Issuance calendars, issue results and further information on Confederation bonds and money market debt register claims can be found on the SNB (www.snb.ch) and FFA (www.efv.admin.ch) websites.

Please address questions to: Philipp Rohr, Communications Officer, Federal Finance Administration, +41 58 465 16 06, philipp.rohr@efv.admin.ch.

The issuance calendars can be found at:

Confederation bonds - 2018 issuance calendar

Money market debt register claims - 2018 issuance calendar

According to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) applied by the Confederation, bonds are carried at amortised cost. Premiums are thus recognised under debt upon issuance and then amortised over the entire term. In this way, premiums are a component of the Confederation's financing activities and are taken into account by the Federal Treasury when covering the funding requirement. Up to 2016, Confederation bonds were recognised at face value, and the above par premiums earned upon issuance flowed into the federal financial statements of the corresponding year as a reduction in expenditure.