The Swiss National Bank has issued the Swiss franc since Switzerland’s central-banking monopoly was assigned to it in 1907.
The bank is Switzerland’s independent central bank and is responsible for monetary policy, the circulation of banknotes, payment-system oversight, and managing parts of the country’s financial infrastructure. Its constitutional mandate focuses on price stability while taking economic developments into account.
The Swiss National Bank was established in 1907 after the National Bank Act created a single federal institution. Before then, Switzerland’s fragmented banking system included cantonal and private institutions with note-issuing privileges.
The bank is sometimes confused with the Bank for International Settlements, whose headquarters are also in Basel. The BIS serves international central-bank cooperation; it is not Switzerland’s central bank. The Swiss franc is also used as legal tender in Liechtenstein.