Launch of the referendum campaign for Sovereign Money

What is sovereign money?

Sovereign money is full-value legal tender which is created and brought into circulation by public institutions, typically a central bank, rather than private banks. Currently coins and banknotes are the only forms of sovereign money available to the public. The money in people‘s bank accounts is neither sovereign money nor legal tender.

What is electronic money?

It‘s the numbers in bank accounts, also known as "book money". Currently the money in people‘s bank accounts is not created by the Swiss National Bank, but by private banks when they make loans. This "virtual" money on our bank accounts isn‘t legal tender, it‘s just a promise made by the banks to pay us cash and settle payments on our behalf, when requested. Legally it belongs to the bank, not to the holder of the bank account.

What is a Swiss people's initiative?

It's Switzerland’s system of direct democracy: if 100,000 people sign an official petition for a change to Switzerland’s written constitution, there has to be a binding national referendum on the proposed change.

Over 110,000 signatures supporting the Sovereign Money Initiative were formally handed over to the Swiss authorities in December 2015. The referendum on adopting a Sovereign Money system will be held in Switzerland on 10th June 2018.