Swiss-Franc Bonds Made Up 90% of Collateral Used in Repo Market

Swiss-franc bonds made up about 90% of collateral actually used in the Swiss repo market.

The measurement window ran from January 2021 through June 2026. Of 416,783 transactions recorded from June 2020 to June 2026, the dataset omitted intraday operations, intragroup activity and transactions with the SNB as a counterparty.

A repo is short-term borrowing secured by securities: a borrower receives cash and agrees to buy back the collateral later. Securities in the SNB’s General Collateral Basket backed about 89% of outstanding Swiss interbank repo volume over the reported period.

At the end of September 2026, the basket contained more than 3,000 bonds with nominal volume of about CHF 10 trillion. That figure describes the eligible securities’ nominal volume; it is not cash supplied by the central bank or an amount currently pledged. Euros comprised 56% of basket currencies, pounds sterling 31% and Swiss francs about 4%. The eligible list covered seven currencies and bonds from about 200 issuers in more than 20 countries.

Collateral use was concentrated among domestic issuers. The two Swiss mortgage-bond institutions accounted for 45% of collateral, compared with 12% for Swiss Confederation bonds, 9% for cantonal bonds and 4% for SNB Bills.

Foreign-currency bonds expand the pool available to banks. Switzerland’s banking sector has an aggregate balance sheet of about CHF 3.4 trillion, while its Swiss-franc bond market totals about CHF 680 billion. Roughly 1,000 bonds worth about CHF 450 billion meet the basket’s eligibility criteria. Most qualifying bonds and the issuer’s country of domicile must have a rating of at least AA-minus; Swiss Confederation bonds and SNB Bills are exceptions. All securities in the basket meet high-quality liquid asset criteria.

At the Oct. 29 Money Market Event in Geneva, SNB Governing Board Member Petra Tschudin and Thomas Moser, an Alternate Member of the Governing Board, said the basket “has thus established itself as the common collateral standard for the SNB and the market.”

The Payment System Support Facility is scheduled to begin in November 2027, enabling counterparties to draw liquidity through Swiss Interbank Clearing at any time, including weekends and off-peak hours.