3. IPO of Postfinance

The most unexpected result of the SNB's rates regime? State-backed Postfinance's plans to list its shares. Why? The Hansruedi Koeng-led bank isn't licensed to grant loans, so it invests deposits in bonds in order to pay interest on them. Of course, yields on Swiss ten-year and other bonds have also reached zero or turned negative in the intervening years, leading Postfinance to tighten its belt last year and eventually cut jobs.

A public listing for Postfinance would pave the way for the bank to write its own loans. «If our ban on lending would fall with a privatization, then we have to urgently pursue that route,» Koeng said two months ago (in German).

4. Banken Spare Clients

The Swiss central bank's aim with surcharges on franc deposits was to dissuade foreign investors from hoarding the currency, driving up its value. Has it worked? Not quite –Switzerland's banks have held off on levying negative rates to their wealthy clients across the board, often swallowing the charges instead. 

Major clients frequently move from cash deposits into lower-risk investments, while charging retail clients for holding Swiss francs remains absolutely taboo – save for one exception, Olten's Alternative Bank.