The list is much, much longer and there is no preferential treatment with the mentionable, but they are a few of the most significant central bank decisions in recent years. This year’s Swiss National Bank fiasco was more or less the Black Swan of the Forex Market with a move that most traders would agree was something never-before-seen and most likely never to be seen again.
The SNB was openly committed to defending the 1.2000 exchange rate through December 2014 after an intervention back in August 2011. The SNB was so committed in fact it was willing to venture into negative interest rate territory to stay ahead of the fundamentally weak euro. The SNB ventured into negative interest rate territory in December 2014 with a cut from 0% to -.25%. SNB speeches and press releases assured the markets and traders that the SNB would consider intervention if anything unsavory hit the markets and threatened the 1.2000 peg.
Weeks later, in a relatively unassuming Libor Rate Decision the SNB announced a rate cut (cutting rates 50 bps to -.75 which technically should weaken the CHF) but the not-so subtle kicker being the 1.2000 floor was removed - within a matter of seconds the CHF moved nearly 2,000 points and appreciated on the move (Figure 2). This anomaly crippled traders, brokers, and permanently tarnished the reputation of Central Banks worldwide. Yet, here we are in 2015 and the year has already witnessed more Central Bank actions with plenty more on the horizon.