Martin Schlegel (born 20. August 1976) is a Swiss

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and Chairman of the Governing Board of the

Swiss National Bank The Swiss National Bank (SNB; ; ; ; ) is the central bank of Switzerland, responsible for the nation's monetary policy and the sole issuer of Swiss franc banknotes. The primary goal of its mandate is to ensure price stability, while taking econ ...

(SNB).

Education and business career

Martin Schlegel studied economics at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

and completed his studies in 2003 with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

. Subsequently, he joined the Research Unit at the SNB followed by positions in the SNB's Financial Market Analysis and Money Market units. While working, he obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

in 2009. Since 2010, he has been an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

at the University of Basel. In the years 2015 and 2016 Schlegel also worked as an expert for the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. After a proposal from the SNB's Bank Council, Schlegel was appointed as an Alternate member of the SNB's Governing Board by the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...

in June 2018. In May 2022, the Federal Council appointed Schlegel as the Vice-Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank. This also made him Head of Department II of the SNB. Later that year he was a speaker at the Forum for Financial Market Stability held by the Financial Market Authority Liechtenstein. In an interview in October 2023 Schlegel, talking about the

Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS On 19 March 2023, Swiss bank UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse for billion ( billion) in an all-stock deal brokered by the government of Switzerland and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The Swiss National Bank sup ...

, said: "We don't have a mandate to rescue a bank." After the announcement of Thomas Jordans resignation in March 2024, Schlegel was seen as the favourite for his position as Chairman of the SNB. On 26 June 2024 the

Federal Council Federal Council may refer to: Governmental bodies * Federal Council of Australasia, a forerunner to the current Commonwealth of Australia * Federal Council of Austria, the upper house of the Austrian federal parliament * Federal Council of German ...

elected Schlegel as the new Chairman following the recommendation of the Governing Board. He assumed the position on 1 October 2024.

Personal life

Schlegel is married to Nicole Brändle, who's the current director of

HotellerieSuisse Hotelleriesuisse (common spelling ''HotellerieSuisse'', actually ''Schweizer Hotelier-Verein'', SHV; also ''Swiss Hotel Association'') is the Employers' organization of the Swiss accommodation industry and represents the interests of accommoda ...

, but will step down in June 2025 to avoid giving the impression of a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

with Schlegels promotion to director. They have 3 children together.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlegel, Martin Living people Chairmen of the Board of Swiss National Bank 21st-century Swiss economists 1976 births