61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

system. Payments from Swiss debtors (primarily importers of goods) were made
in francs to the Swiss Clearing Office (Schweizerische Verrechnungsstelle, SVSt)
which was an autonomous corporate body founded in 1934 and subject to
banking secrecy. It fulfilled the role of a mediatory office between the Federal
Administration, the banking system, the National Bank and a large number of
foreign trading participants. However, the export creditors had to be satisfied
by the incoming payments of the importers, and the numerous claims caused
severe disputes within the Swiss economy in respect of the allocation of these
payments. Movements of capital were not integrated into this controlled
payment system but were still heavily restricted due to foreign bans on
exporting foreign exchange.
In light of past experiences, Switzerland adopted a twin strategy in the
worldwide economic crisis of the 1930s which was continued in principle
throughout the war years and into the post-war years. On the one hand, it opted
for special bilateral regulations and promoted the conclusion of clearing agreements
together with customs tariffs and quotas. It therefore decided to
negotiate directly with states which had renounced the free world market and
strove to conclude bilateral agreements under international law. On the other
hand, Switzerland expressed a clear preference for stable international frameworks
and attempted to cling to the international currency system which was
reconstructed in the 1920s. This was based on the model of the classic gold
standard which existed before 1914, even though it rapidly became clear that
the conditions which had given the system stability before the First World War
were no longer in place. Fixed exchange rates and adherence to gold parity
appeared to be indispensable from a Swiss perspective, which could not envisage
any viable long-term alternative. The gold standard, a transaction system which
obliged the participating countries to adhere to fixed regulations, seemed to
guarantee the security which was sorely needed to process the remaining foreign
trade through proper channels. Even after Great Britain made the astonishing
move of suspending gold redemptions for the pound sterling in September
1931 and caused a flood of devaluations worldwide, the Swiss monetary
regulators defended the model of an international currency system based on
gold. Membership in the gold bloc was synonymous with support for an
austerity policy within public expenditure and the abandonment of an active
job-creation policy.
Interventionist bilateralism and liberal internationalism were two objectives
which overlapped in the 1930s and often caused confusion. They were supposed
to play substantial roles in shaping the principles of Swiss foreign trade policy
and the development of a wartime economy. Switzerland’s foreign trade during
the war was subject to a strict regime; however, at the same time, the free
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