Hildebrand Fights Reputation Risk After Wife's Franc Trades

Philipp Hildebrand is under pressure to explain how he can act as guardian of the Swiss franc and allow his wife to trade the currency at the same time.

Hildebrand, head of the Swiss National Bank, will today break his silence on his wife’s purchase of dollars in August, the SNB said. That trade came three weeks before policy makers announced their biggest franc intervention since the 1970s. While an SNB probe cleared him of wrongdoing, some lawmakers and academics say the 105 year-old institution must do more to move away from a culture of bank secrecy.