The Canton of Zurich benefits greatly from the Swiss National Bank (SNB). Nevertheless, it is now downgrading the central bank in a peculiar way.
The Canton of Zurich has taken an unusual step in its financial statements.
It suddenly reclassified its stake in the Swiss National Bank (SNB) as ‘insignificant’, as shown in their 2025 financial report.
Concise Valuation Disappears
Doing so, Switzerland’s most populous canton discontinued the practice of listing the SNB on its portfolio of holdings, a practice it had followed for over a decade.
In other words, the central bank no longer appears in the section where the canton previously listed and explained its financial and administrative assets – such as those in the Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB), Zurich Airport, the Zurich Opera House, Axpo Holding, the Building Insurance Company (GVZ), and the Zurich Electricity Works (EKZ).
The canton’s 5.2 percent stake in the Swiss National Bank had always been clearly explained – and even valued financially – in the financial section of Zurich’s annual report.
Even the compensation of the SNB’s top executives was clearly outlined there, as was the current status of the country’s gold reserves.
Multiplier Effect on Market Value
The value of the Canton of Zurich’s proportional equity stake in the National Bank amounted to approximately 3.3 billion Swiss francs in 2023.
One year later, that figure had already risen to 7.5 billion Swiss francs, as the central bank’s equity capital stood at 143.3 billion Swiss francs as of the end of 2024.
In the Canton of Zurich’s 2025 annual report, however, one has to look very closely to find the stake, even though Zurich received 443.5 million Swiss francs in profit sharing.
The Zurich authorities barely mentioned the market value of the SNB share in a single line, even though it had soared from 1.4 to 16.7 million Swiss francs within a single year.
New Risk Assessment
The Swiss National Bank is now classified as an ‘investment’ under the jurisdiction of the Finance Department and no longer as a ‘significant investment’, according to the background information.
Evidently, the criteria for classification as a significant investment were not met, as the investment does not pose any significant risks to the cantonal budget, explained the Department of Finance, led by Cantonal Councilor Ernst Stocker (SVP), regarding the change in stance.
Yet all of this had been exactly the same for the Canton of Zurich in previous years.
And so, observers are puzzling over the true reasons behind the SNB’s sudden downgrade to the ‘insignificant’ category in Zurich, the most populous canton.
SNB Chief Schlegel Denies It
The rumor mill is practically boiling over.
Some even suspect a conspiracy involving the Chair of the SNB Bank Council, Barbara Janom Steiner, who, like Zurich’s Finance Director Stocker, is a well-known figure in the SVP.
The downgrade of the SNB to ‘insignificant’ could be a long-term move to prepare for the delisting of SNB shares from the Swiss stock exchange SIX and a squeeze-out of the few public shareholders.
However, when asked by muula.ch, the current SNB chief, Martin Schlegel, officially denied such plans.
A German as a Major Shareholder
However, the idea of changes to the structure of the Swiss National Bank as a publicly-traded corporation is not entirely far-fetched.
After all, the SNB’s largest private shareholder is Theo Siegert, a German.
He owns 5 percent of Switzerland’s “sanctuary,” the Swiss National Bank – almost as much as the Canton of Zurich itself.
Downplaying the Significance
If the National Bank were to undergo a proper corporate valuation, he might be entitled to billions.
As of the end of 2025, the SNB’s equity capital amounted to approximately 166.5 billion Swiss francs, and 5 percent of that would be 8.3 billion Swiss francs.
It is therefore probably more advantageous for conservative Switzerland to initially downgrade the shares as ‘insignificant’ and to just pretend they have little value.
August 18, 2026/kut./ena.
