Julius Baer said it has not suffered losses from the huge spike in the Swiss franc of last week against the euro. Some other banks have reportedly taken a large hit from the currency mayhem.

Switzerland's third largest bank, Julius Baer, has announced that it hasn't suffered losses as a result of the huge market volatility associated with the Swiss franc's surge against the euro last week.

The Zurich-listed bank issued the comment as analysts sought to work out the scale of damage that might have been inflicted on bank financial positions from last week's shock announcement by the Swiss National Bank that it is no longer capping the Swiss franc against the euro at a 1.20 rate. The Swiss unit has surged by as much as 40 per cent against the euro before pulling back to some extent.

As reported elsewhere he, it is estimated that banking groups Citigroup, Barclays and Deutsche Bank have suffered total losses of around $400 million associated with the SNB's decision. A hedge fund run by Everest Capital has closed - reportedly having been "wiped out" by the currency surge.

"Julius Baer was able to manage successfully the enormous volatility and volumes following the Swiss National Bank’s decision on 15 January 2015 to discontinue the minimum exchange rate of CHF 1.20 per euro. In particular, the Group overall did not suffer losses on the two trading days following the decision," Julius Baer said in a statement today.
 
"Based on current analyses, the direct translation impact of the increase in the valuation of the Swiss franc did not negatively impact the group’s capital ratios nor its significant excess capital position. Julius Baer is continuing to analyse the developments and expects to be able to rapidly implement appropriate measures to defend the group’s profitability from the effects of the strengthened Swiss franc.
 
The bank will add to its financial details when it issues full-year figures on 2 February.