Stats Currencies and commodities Franc 2015

The market took 44 seconds to react to the franc floor going

SourceFigureWhat it is actually measuring
CFTC complaint against FXCM, 18 Aug 20161.2000 to 1.1659A specific quoted level cited in a regulatory filing about capital adequacy.
CNBC, same day report, 15 Jan 2015Broke to 0.805, then back to about 1.040Intraday extreme on the venue quoted, then the recovered level. USDCHF quoted at 0.901.
BIS Working Paper 660, Chen, Funke and Moessner, Aug 2017Franc rose 40% within minutes, reached parityPeak appreciation in the minutes after the announcement.
BIS Working Paper 751, Auer, Burstein and Lein, Sep 2020Over 20% on the first day, 14.0% by end MarchDaily close to close appreciation relative to 14 Jan 2015.

Sources as listed, all read 3 Aug 2026. If you need one number, the daily close to close figure from BIS 751 is the most conservative and the most reproducible. If you traded that morning, none of these describes your fill.

On 15 January 2015 the Swiss National Bank abandoned its CHF 1.20 floor against the euro with no warning. The Bank of England's reconstruction finds the market took about 44 seconds to react significantly. Two retail brokers were gone within days.

6 Sep 2011Floor set
15 Jan 2015Floor abandoned
44 secondsDelay before reaction
CHF 23.3bnSNB loss for 2015

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