On 15 January 2015, the Swiss National Bank discontinued its minimum exchange rate of CHF 1.20 per euro. Reading the original announcement separates the documented policy change from later narratives about trading losses and execution.
The announcement contained two policy changes
The SNB ended the CHF 1.20-per-euro minimum and lowered the interest rate on sight-deposit balances above an exemption threshold by 0.5 percentage points to minus 0.75%. It also moved its three-month Libor target range to minus 1.25%–minus 0.25%. Swiss National Bank — 15 January 2015 policy announcement
The bank described the exchange-rate measure as exceptional and temporary. It cited increased monetary-policy divergence across major currency areas and concluded that maintaining the minimum was no longer justified. The announcement retained the possibility of FX-market activity when needed to influence monetary conditions. Swiss National Bank — 15 January 2015 policy announcement
A policy boundary and an execution price are different records
WFN analysis: the historical document establishes what the central bank changed. It does not establish the price at which every broker or customer executed after the decision, or the losses of a particular account.
Those claims need separate records: the instrument, timestamp, order instructions and actual fills. Adding an unsourced percentage move to this article would weaken its factual basis rather than make the historical account more useful.
The document also illustrates why different policy tools deserve separate treatment. Ending an exchange-rate commitment and changing an interest rate are not interchangeable actions. A briefing that reduces the announcement to a single rate headline misses the policy boundary at the centre of the event.
Keep the historical date visible
This is a historical case study, not a report of a fresh SNB decision or a description of Switzerland’s current interest-rate framework. Use the dated document when comparing the event with other episodes.
For an account-level review, obtain the relevant execution and margin records rather than assuming that a central-bank announcement determines a customer’s realised result. The enduring reporting discipline is to connect each claim to the record capable of proving it.