The Swiss franc slipped against the euro on speculation the appointment today of Philipp Hildebrand as the central bank’s next chairman will ensure policy makers maintain their focus on limiting the currency’s appreciation. The franc fell for a third day against the dollar as a report showed corporate bankruptcies in the country surged to a record in March as the recession cut into earnings. Hildebrand, who will succeed Jean-Pierre Roth when he retires at the end of 2009, said April 2 the Swiss National Bank will “resolutely maintain” its policy of preventing gains by the currency. “The SNB will put a floor on gains in the franc and the appointment won’t change that,” said Antje Praefcke, a currency strategist in Frankfurt at Commerzbank AG. The franc depreciated 0.2 percent to 1.5192 per euro by 2:28 p.m. in Zurich, after earlier strengthening 0.3 percent. The currency declined 0.4 percent to 1.1468 per dollar. The franc may weaken to 1.60 per euro by year-end, Praefcke said. The Swiss Market Index of stocks dropped for a fourth day, declining 0.3 percent. The MSCI World Index slipped 0.2 percent. The Zurich-based SNB said on March 12 it began buying foreign currencies to battle the recession. The central bank also cut the main interest rate to near zero and said it would buy corporate bonds to ward off deflation. Corporate bankruptcies rose 44 percent to 451 in March from 313 a year earlier, Urdorf, Switzerland-based Dun & Bradstreet AG said in an e-mailed release today. In the first quarter, 1,192 companies failed, a 28 percent increase from the first three months of 2008.

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