Swiss Stock Exchange: Open Markets To Weather The Storm

In March 2020, the Corona crisis caused unprecedented market turmoil. The Swiss Stock Exchange ensured fair and orderly trading, enabling investors to adjust and implement their investment decisions at all times. In an interview, two members of its management committee – Christian Reuss, Head Cash Markets & Head Sales and Werner Bürki, Head Trading responsible for Exchange Operations – share their insights and look back on a historic month.

The importance of keeping markets open

Christian Reuss first describes the impact of the Corona crisis on listing activity on the Swiss Stock Exchange before looking at some key figures such as volatility, trading turnover and spreads in March. Also discussed is the question of market closures and the importance of keeping markets open, since functioning capital markets play a critical role in ensuring global economic stability.

World-class technology and stability

The importance of stability is emphasized by Werner Bürki who provides insights on how the Swiss Stock Exchange handled the increased trading activity from an operations perspective and the critical role of technology to ensure stability – two domains in which the Swiss Stock Exchange is among the best in the world.

High Trading Volumes

In March 2020, the Swiss Stock Exchange saw several new records being established. Trading turnover was up +80.9% on the previous month and reached CHF 293.0 billion, while the number of transactions increased by +127.7% to 17'399'685 – both new all-time monthly highs, surpassing the previous ones by 61.3% and 127.7% respectively, established in January 2015 and February 2020. The highest number of trades was recorded on 12 March, with 1'335'892 transactions – +40.6% more than on the previous record day, 15 January 2015, when the Swiss National Bank unpegged the Swiss Franc from the Euro.

Detailed statistics for March 2020 are available in the Swiss Stock Exchange Trading Key Figures.