Abrupt resignation

Switzerland's central bank said in a brief statement Monday that its chairman, Philip Hildebrand, had stepped down with immediate effect.

A short time later, Hildebrand called an impromptu press conference in the Swiss capital Bern, where he said he was proud of his achievements and of working for financial institutions in Switzerland and international organizations such as the World Bank.

"I would like to think I have been a damn good central banker," Hildebrand told reporters, adding that he had "advocated strongly and early for stricter capital requirements for the big banks."

Public outcry erupted in Switzerland last weeks after reports surfaced that Hildebrand had unfairly used insider knowledge to profit off dollar swaps - ostensibly conducted by his wife, a former currency trader - to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

At the time the transactions were made Hildebrand was working to lower the value of the soaring Swiss franc, which he eventually capped, resulting in handsome profits after his wife reportedly bought $504,000 (396,000 euros).

'My mistake'

Monday marked the second news conference Hildebrand had called in less than a week. He first broke weeks of silence last week Thursday to deny any breach of central bank rules and announce he was donating the profits resulting from the trades to charity.

But questions remain about the propriety of the trading, and his departure came just before he was to face a Swiss parliamentary committee Monday seeking answers about the deals, which Hildebrand said had been the work of his wife, Kashya, whom he met while the two were working for the same hedge fund. In the Thursday conference, Hildebrand admitted that his "mistake" had been to give his wife access to their bank account.

Lawmakers on the separate Swiss Committees for Economic Affairs and Taxation were holding a confidential session Monday to examine whether Hildebrand and his wife traded currency from accounts other than the one in question from the Basel-based Bank Sarasin.

Details of the dubious trades were leaked by an IT support employee at the bank who was apparently concerned about the possibility of insider trading in December.

Author: Gabriel Borrud (AP, Reuters)
Editor: Andreas Illmer