Never before has an opinion of a European Advocate General had such a severe impact on Switzerland as the one published on the request for preliminary ruling in the so-called OMT case, a government bond-buying program announced by the ECB in 2012. Only one day after the Advocate General basically rejected the legal concerns of the German Constitutional Court that had asked for preliminary ruling, the Swiss National Bank withdrew its previously made promise concerning the maximum exchange rate of the Swiss Franc vis-à-vis the Euro. The European Court of Justice has now ruled in the same direction as the Advocate General had recommended in its opinion.

by Peter Sester (Reference: CapLaw-2015-34)