ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's Federal Council has appointed Martin Schlegel as vice chairman of the governing board of the Swiss National Bank, succeeding Fritz Zurbruegg as head of the department responsible for financial stability.
Zurbruegg, who implemented the scrapping of the Swiss central bank's minimum exchange rate policy and the introduction of negative interest rates, is to retire this year.
Schlegel, who holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Basel, has been a member of the SNB's enlarged governing board since 2018, deputising for SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan as deputy head of the department responsible for economic affairs.
In his new job, Schlegel will oversee financial stability, cash, finance and risks.
"He has been with the SNB for nearly 20 years, in which time he has held various management positions," the central bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
The SNB also said the government had approved a partial revision of the central bank's regulation, allowing it to increase the number of alternate members of its governing board.
"The increase in the number of deputies is aimed at helping the SNB to continue to manage well the monetary policy and operational challenges that have risen sharply in recent years," the SNB said. "At the same time, it will facilitate an even broader integration of different skills in SNB management."
Each of the SNB's three departments can now have two deputies, the SNB said, naming Petra Gerlach and Attilio Zanetti to succeed Schlegel as deputies to the Head of Department I.