Swiss Franc: A Managed Currency?

Chatter’s spreading across Swiss trading floors that the country’s national bank has begun loosely managing the CHF/EUR exchange rate; preventing it to go below the 1.40 level despite prevailing trends.  Traders are indicating that the Swiss National Bank have a large bid around the 1.40 level to keep the currency in check.  The country’s small well integrated economy relies heavily on the banking and export sectors, which rely heavily on the stability of the Swiss Franc.  While the country does not admit to currency manipulation they have stated that, “We will not be tolerant of excessive CHF appreciation”.  These actions are typically what would be expected of a central bank in an emerging market or commodity exporting nations, not a G-10 economy.