The Berne Financial Services Agreement
His Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Federal Department of Finance of the Swiss Confederation have signed a ground-breaking agreement to enhance the cross-border market access of financial services between the UK and Switzerland.
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The United Kingdom has signed a ground-breaking agreement with Switzerland. The agreement uses outcomes-based mutual recognition of domestic laws and regulations to enable cross-border trade in financial services to wholesale and sophisticated clients.
The deal creates a rock-solid framework between two of the world’s leading financial centres for UK businesses to provide wholesale financial services into the Swiss domestic market.
This agreement is built on the UK and Switzerland’s shared belief in open and resilient financial markets and it will cement the open access between the two nations for decades to come.
At its heart is a new and innovative model of mutual regulatory recognition. This provides stability for UK businesses supplying financial services to clients in Switzerland and supports unprecedented new market access secured through the agreement. It will also reduce regulatory barriers for the sectors it covers, making doing business with Switzerland easier than ever before.
The Berne Financial Services Agreement is not just about improving the outlook for our businesses. It also establishes a new global best practice for regulatory and supervisory cooperation to ensure our respective domestic objectives and high regulatory standards are upheld, without constraining our freedom to take forward the government’s strategy for financial services and the Edinburgh Reforms.
UK signs first of its kind financial services agreement with Switzerland
Separate to the Berne Financial Services Agreement, the UK is also currently negotiating an enhanced Free Trade Agreement with Switzerland that will boost ties and cover the full range of trade between the two countries.
Last updated 8 January 2024 + show all updates
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Sentence added at the bottom of the page to reflect that the UK is also currently negotiating an enhanced Free Trade Agreement with Switzerland that will boost ties and cover the full range of trade between the two countries.
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First published.