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One of the most important virtues of a central bank chief is to exude calmness. Because: If they appear, they can destroy billions simply by not appearing convincing. And convincing in this case means: unspectacular or boring.
Thomas Jordan has mostly succeeded in doing this – no matter what crisis was shaking the financial industry or driving the franc to new, unprecedented strength. At the beginning he seemed a bit wooden at times, but he increasingly found his own style in his performances.
Enormous power
The power of this office is immense. The National Bank institution is the guardian of the national currency. It must ensure that price stability prevails and that inflation does not gallop away, but that the economy does not sink into deflation either.
It must keep the financial market stable and look into the books of the players in this market, i.e. the banks. In addition to the financial and monetary policy tasks, there are many more – including design issues and security features for new banknotes.
The twelve years at the helm of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) were challenging. The great financial crisis had an impact, the euro crisis caused the franc to strengthen, the negative interest rates somehow turned everything upside down and the ongoing crisis of Credit Suisse, which was finally saved from total collapse a year ago, added to the top.
Background noise and criticism
In all of these situations, Thomas Jordan acted skillfully and with foresight – but not always without background noise. His power came under criticism. The way he controlled the franc, too – sometimes it was too much, sometimes too little.
Organizational issues were also criticized, such as the fact that there were too few women in management positions at the SNB and that there was an unpleasant internal climate. Or that the SNB also invests its foreign currency in companies that are not without fault when it comes to sustainability, or that Thomas Jordan’s remuneration – in 2022 it was 1,036 million francs – is too high.
There was also a loud creaking at the SNB about Andréa Maechler’s personality. The first and so far only woman on the board of directors was passed over as a possible deputy for Thomas Jordan and now works at the Bank for International Settlements.
We simply don’t know exactly what such criticism did to Thomas Jordan. From time to time, however, he was noticeably irritated when very critical and, above all, non-economic questions were asked of him.
But he also has a certain mischief. An example: towards the end of the show “Eco Talk” on January 31, 2022, when asked what his biggest hobby was, Thomas Jordan said: “The SNB.” And smiled very mischievously by his standards. So when he clears out his office at the end of September, he also has to find a new hobby. And anyway, he leaves big shoes to fill. Who will step into them, or even be able to step into them – remains to be seen.
Matthias Pfander
Co-head of business editorial team
Open the people box. Close the people box
Matthias Pfander has been working in business journalism for over 20 years, since mid-2017 as a reporter and planner for the business editorial team at SRF TV. He previously worked for the “Tages-Anzeiger” and the “Blick” group, among others.