By Beth Mellor Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Swiss franc fell against the euro after the country’s central bank said the nation may need tighter financial regulation than the rest of the world. The franc also declined versus the dollar. Swiss National Bank Chairman-designate Philipp Hildebrand said yesterday in Geneva that “higher-than-average regulatory standards are warranted” in the country because of the “exceptional” size of the two biggest Swiss banks, UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG. Hildebrand takes over from Jean-Pierre Roth as chairman of the SNB in January. Hildebrand “is suggesting that the problems linked to the financial market are bigger in Switzerland than elsewhere,” said Henrik Gullberg, a strategist in London at Deutsche Bank AG, the world’s biggest currency trader. “That didn’t help the franc.” The franc weakened 0.1 percent to 1.5131 per euro as of 2:11 p.m. in London, after depreciating to 1.5146. It fell 0.8 percent to 1.0182 per dollar. Swiss banking industry assets are 8.2 times the country’s gross domestic product, compared with 4.3 times in the U.K. and 0.9 times in the U.S., SNB statistics show. The franc fell even as stock markets declined, boosting demand for assets that are perceived to be safer, including the Japanese and U.S. currencies. “We are seeing some signs of changing correlation patterns here,” Gullberg said. “The Swiss franc seems to be less of a safe haven these days than the yen and the dollar.” The favored currencies for so-called carry trades are now the yen and the dollar, Gullberg said. In carry trades, investors get funds in a country with relatively low borrowing costs and invest in another nation with higher interest rates. To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Mellor in London at bmellor@bloomberg.net

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