Swiss Central Banker Jordan Finds Refuge Among Global Friends in Alps

"Swiss central bank President Thomas Jordan may be finding refuge in the Alpine resort of Davos."

Almost a week since roiling financial markets and drawing the ire of international investors by unexpectedly scrapping a three-year cap on the Swiss franc versus the euro, Jordan, 51, won support today from a string of former central bankers at the World Economic Forum.

“The SNB did the right thing,” said Axel Weber, 57, former Bundesbank president and now chairman of UBS Group AG. “Better an end with a shock, than shocks with no end.” 

Jordan’s decision was branded everything from “idiotic” to “brave” after the Swiss National Bank’s move to abolish the ceiling on Jan. 15 sparked a 41 percent surge in the franc versus the euro.

The aftershocks triggered hundreds of millions of dollars in losses at European banks, wiping out currency firms from New York to New Zealand.

Read more: The announcement was all the more unexpected because, two days earlier, SNB Vice President Jean-Pierre Danthine re-affirmed the currency cap as a “pillar of our monetary policy.”