Philipp Hildebrand was accused of insider trading
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Swiss prosecutors have ended a criminal investigation into the breaking of professional confidentiality by Philipp Hildebrand, the former president of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) who resigned in 2012.
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swissinfo.ch and agencies
The case had been brought by Christoph Blocher, the billionaire figurehead of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, who had said Hildebrand had told the media of Blocher’s role in the affair.
Hildebrand resigned in January 2012 after emails cast doubt on his claims not to have known about a foreign exchange trades made by his wife in August, weeks before the SNB moved to stop the Swiss franc climbing.
Hildebrand was accused of insider trading after details of the currency transactions were leaked. He denied the charge, maintaining his wife ordered the transactions without his prior knowledge, calling the accusations a “smear campaign”.
Blocher, a vocal critic of Hildebrand’s actions while chairman of the SNB, was allegedly given information about the trade, but he has denied handling any original banking documents in the matter and said that he merely relayed information to the then cabinet minister Micheline Calmy-Rey.
This “relaying” was reported by the NZZ am Sonntag and SonntagsZeitung at the beginning of 2012, prompting Blocher’s lawsuit.
But on Sunday the Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed a report in the NZZ am Sonntag, saying it was no longer possible to ascertain who had given information about Blocher’s role to the media.
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Former SNB chairman faces investigation
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Hildebrand’s current employer, fund management firm BlackRock, said he rejected the allegations. “Mr Hildebrand absolutely rejects any allegations of wrongdoing and is providing the Attorney General with whatever assistance is necessary to resolve this matter,” BlackRock spokesman Marc Bubeck said in an emailed statement to Reuters on Thursday. The allegations related to a period prior…
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It is the latest step in an ongoing political and legal procedure to shed light on a controversial foreign currency transaction made by Hildebrand’s wife in 2011 and a suspected breach of banking secrecy rules by the strongman of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, Christoph Blocher. The control committees of both parliamentary chambers on Monday…
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“Switzerland and its banking system should assume that in five to ten years when a foreign client comes and opens a Swiss bank account, his name, the date he opens the account and the bank’s name will be automatically transferred to his country’s treasury,” said Hildebrand. “The Swiss fiscal refuge is over.” Hildebrand, who resigned…
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Ending a procedural tug-of-war between two parliamentary panels, the legal committee of the Senate on Monday insisted that Blocher’s parliamentary immunity be lifted altogether, according to committee speaker Anne Seydoux. Blocher is member of the House of Representative and former justice minister. He and his party are ardent defenders of Swiss banking secrecy. They have…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.