The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has set a minimum exchange rate of 1.20 francs to the euro, saying the current value of the franc is a threat to the economy.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-14801324
“The Japanese example with yen intervention teaches us that intervention can work in the very short term but changing long-term global currency flows is near impossible – a lesson that the UK learned from George Soros,” Cooper said.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/sep/06/switzerland-pegs-swiss-franc-euro
The long rumored Swiss Franc peg has arrived…
The Swiss National Bank is tired of the surging Franc, and is taking intervention to the next level.
Exploiting the franc peg
We already are seeing some market parallels with the early signs of the great financial crisis of 2007-08: Peaking global inflation rates, topping formations in G10/emerging market equities and tightening bank liquidity. As European banks rush to raise funds and borrow U.S. dollars, their borrowing cost on USD funding has risen to its highest since 2008. But one thing is different — the Swiss franc.
The Swiss currency is no longer rallying the way it did during market distress on Eurozone debt concerns. It all changed when the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announcement pegging its currency against the euro at the EUR/CHF rate of 1.20, aimed at preventing excessive franc acceleration against the debt-ridden euro. As credit rating agencies rushed to downgrade the sovereign debt of Southern Europe in late 2009, investors rushed their savings out of the single currency and into safe-haven francs. The exodus took the form of cash flight, property sales and bank transfers as “default” became a recurring theme in Greece, Spain, Portugal Greece, Ireland and Italy.
Consequently, the franc soared 35% and 40% against the euro and the USD respectively from 2009 to September 2011.
http://www.futuresmag.com/2012/01/01/exploiting-the-franc-peg
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