AGM of WIR Bank waves through all deals - new platform for foreign exchange trading
The Annual General Meeting of WIR Bank Genossenschaft clearly approved the dividend distribution of 10.25 Swiss francs proposed by the Board of Directors. The other items on the agenda were also uncontroversial - no motions were put forward for discussion.
This year's Annual General Meeting of WIR Bank Cooperative will go down in history, as it took place - on the basis of the
Regulation - in writing (Art. 6a COVID-19 Regulation).
All transactions approved
As already announced in mid-February, WIR Bank was able to increase its lending volume, customer deposits and profit in the past fiscal year 2019. At the written general meeting, the cooperative members approved the management report and the annual financial statements, which show a profit of 14.2 million Swiss francs. The Board of Directors and the Executive Board were discharged by a large majority.
The Annual General Meeting also approved the profit distribution and dividend proposed by the Board of Directors: The distribution of 10.25 Swiss francs per ordinary share will take the form of an optional dividend ("dividend with reinvestment" or cash dividend) and - based on the year-end share price of 2019 - corresponds to a yield of 2.8 percent. In the case of the payout variant with reinvestment, the capital contributors receive one new ordinary share for every 348.50 francs of dividend (current share price: 387 francs). If the ordinary shares are held as private assets, the distribution is tax-free.
Especially in the turbulent Corona times, it became clear how important small and medium-sized enterprises were for Switzerland and its economy, explains bank CEO Bruno Stiegeler. "Suddenly, many companies had to rely more on local and regional suppliers again. Fortunately, our SMEs were able to fill these gaps quickly and flexibly. I hope that this return to domestic trade will continue in the longer term and that we will be able to operate more independently of foreign countries in the future."
WIR Bank launches new platform for foreign exchange trading
And it is precisely for SMEs that WIR Bank wants to offer further added value: In cooperation with the Swiss fintech company AMNIS Treasury Service AG, it has launched an online platform on which SMEs can settle foreign exchange transactions professionally and easily - and purely digitally. Foreign exchange can be traded online - spot or forward - around the clock. "What is particularly interesting with us is that the foreign exchange margin that is applied is not dependent on the transaction amount," explains Matthias Pfeifer, Head of Private and Corporate Clients at WIR Bank, "even with small transactions, our customers trade at rates that are only applied with other providers for transactions of 250,000 francs or more." FX Trading" also provides customers with flexible hedging options: In the case of forward transactions, both partial withdrawals can be made and the value date can be subsequently adjusted with just a few clicks. "A tool developed by foreign exchange professionals for SMEs," says Pfeifer. Together with AMNIS, WIR Bank says it wants to declare war on the opportunistic pricing policies common in the industry and offer SMEs access to the foreign exchange market with transparent and fair conditions. This fits in with the conviction that the WIR system, one of the bank's mainstays, is a kind of "line of defense against large domestic and foreign corporations," as the bank goes on to explain. Young entrepreneurs in particular are increasingly interested in sustainable, purely Swiss solutions for SME promotion, it adds. "WIR is valuable for SMEs - and that is precisely why we are sticking to our complementary currency," is the clear statement of Chairman of the Board Karin Zahnd Cadoux and CEO Bruno Stiegeler.
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