Kashya Hildebrand, Wife of Swiss Central Banker, Claims 'We Have God on Our Side'

The wife of the former Swiss Central Bank chairman, Philippe Hildebrand, has made a robust defence of the dollar trade that profited the family Sfr64,000 and forced her husband to resign.

In a television interview Kashya Hildebrand listed five points that clarified why the trade, that ultimately ended Mr Hildebrand career, was made. The art curator, who has several art exhibitions across Europe and the Far East, also attacked the media who had created a "scandal" without reporting the full facts.

She said: "I think there has been a big misinterpretation of our family. When I left the airport to come to Singapore yesterday, my husband was on the front page of 15 of the newspapers."

Mrs Hildebrand then made a case for her defence:

She said: "If you are going to do something like this A, you do not contact compliance.

"B, have a numbered account. Don't have one in your name."

"C, don't do it a few weeks three weeks before the event; we know the world is volatile as is the foreign exchange market"

"D, why not trade in the targeted currency? Surely it would have been better to trade in Swiss Dollars."

"And E, the point that has been misreported has been the idea behind the whole transaction. We sold a chalet to get the liquidity to get to a 50/50 percent level of Swiss francs and US dollars. Dollars were then purchased for this portfolio."

God on our side

Although Mrs Hildebrand later apologies, she also said that Christoph Blocher, the member of the Swiss People's Party who uncovered the scandal, might have "money behind him" but that she and her husband "have God".