Volksinitiative

Rettet unser Schweizer Gold

Postfach 23, 8416 Flaach Telefon 0041 (0)52 301 31 00, Fax 0041 (0)52 301 31 03, Email: info@goldinitiative.ch

Bern / Switzerland: Press conferece, 20th of september 2011

Gold Initiative: A Swiss Initiative to Secure the Swiss National Banks Gold Reserves
Luzi Stamm, member of the Swiss parliament, Baden - Switzerland luzi.stamm@parl.ch; 0041 (0)79 307 92 44

Today, four members of the Swiss parliament present this Gold Initiative for the purpose of securing the Swiss National Banks gold reserves. In the coming months, the goal of the initiative committee will be to collect 100000 signatures among the Swiss population. The Swiss people will then be able to vote on the initiative, which stipulates:

- The gold of the Swiss National Bank must be stored physically in Switzerland. - The Swiss National Bank does not have the right to sell its gold reserves. - The Swiss National Bank must hold at least twenty percent (20%) of its total assets in gold.
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In an arguably irresponsible move, the United States Federal Reserve and the European Union (with the European Central Bank ECB) are in the process of a de facto devaluation of their respective currencies, by printing tremendous amounts of Dollars and Euros. These actions strongly affect the Swiss National Bank, as the Swiss franc runs the risk of being devaluated as well. Until ten years ago, the gold reserves of the Swiss National Bank were historically regarded as the property of the Swiss people which could not be sold. But in the last decade the Swiss National Bank has changed this policy and sold more than 50 percent of its gold reserves. To a very large extent, over the last two years this has been in order to buy foreign currencies. The authors of this initiative believe that selling this gold was a clear mistake. Neither the central bank, nor the politicians should have the right to sell the peoples property. If the initiative is accepted, this would back up a portion of the Swiss Franc with physical gold. It would also force the Swiss National Bank to reveal the location where the gold is stored. Reason dictates that transparency, a certain percentage of physical gold, and a gold-backed currency which does not devalue are the principles which should be followed by all the central banks around the world. In this, the Swiss National Bank should serve as an example to others.

Nationalrat Luzi Stamm