The eerie calm of the Swiss franc after Brexit

Safe, but still vulnerable to aftershocks, Switzerland is a good place to watch financial market earthquakes such as the UK vote to quit the European Union.  Much of the wealth of the world's richest families and entrepreneurs is channelled by banks in Zurich and Geneva. The Swiss franc - a "haven" currency - acts as a gauge of global investor nervousness. At the tensest moments of the post-2007 global and eurozone crises, the currency appreciated sharply, except between September 2011 and January last year, when its value against the euro was capped by the Swiss National Bank (SNB).  But so far, and to the surprise of many, the Brexit vote is failing to have the impact on the Swiss currency and the affluent Alpine economy that might have been expected. That could either be good news for global investors or, and unfortunately more likely, the latest ominous warning of how central bank actions are suppressing volatility and distorting market signals. ...