Swiss reject Irish bonds as collateral

IRISH government bonds have been rejected as a form of collateral by the Swiss central bank.

The statement was published on the bank’s website yesterday and a spokesman for the bank said later that the bonds “did not meet the criteria” against which the bank was prepared to lend.

The criteria state that for a security in a foreign currency to be eligible as collateral, the issuer’s country of domicile must have a minimum rating of AA-/Aa3.