Swiss National Bank: new agreement to pay Confederation

The Swiss National Bank will continue annual payments of 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.02 billion) to Switzerland's 26 cantons and the federal government according to a new 5-year pact announced on Thursday over how to divide the central bank's profits.

The new agreement runs through 2020; the SNB will make up for any omitted or reduced profit distributions if its distribution reserve is in positive territory.
The distribution will be raised to a maximum of 2 billion francs if the distribution reserve exceeds 20 billion francs.
In the first nine months of 2016, the SNB made a record profit of 28.7 billion Swiss francs, while in the same period of 2015, it had recorded a loss of 33.9 billion. The central bank is not required to make a profit.