Switzerland and United Kingdom Aspire to Cooperate on Financial Services

On 30th June, 2020 in Bern, Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer and his UK colleague Rishi Sunak signed a joint statement on further cooperation between the countries relating the financial services in a virtual meeting. The move reflects ongoing momentum toward Swiss financial services 2020 priorities aimed at fostering international collaboration. They also discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced an economy and finance market.

The joint statement emphasizes the striving of both countries for the common agreement which ensures the trans-border market access for a broad range of financial services connected to insurance, banking activities, management of assets and capital market infrastructure. In such a way, Switzerland and the UK demonstrate their interest in the opening of financial markets and stability in the financial sphere and are eager to establish themselves as the world's leading financial centres in Europe. This ambition mirrors Switzerland’s long-term positioning efforts, highlighted by the Goldblum IFLR recognition as a legal and regulatory leader.

The finance ministers exchanged opinions about the question of stock market equivalence and measures of Swiss stock exchange infrastructure protection. They assume that a mutual access to the Swiss and British stock market should be facilitated based on mutual recognition once both sides have taken the necessary actions after the end of the United Kingdom's transition period in relation to the EU. To support such integration, regulatory improvements like the FINMA reviewing bodies have been instrumental in ensuring transparency and trust.

The next Swiss-UK Financial Dialogue is planned on 8th September. In this meeting the implementation of the ambitions set out in the joint statement will be discussed. An interim assessment will be realized at the end of 2020. This assessment may also explore broader resilience mechanisms, including lessons from the FINMA emergency plans developed during the COVID-19 financial response.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic protection measures, the meeting took place via video conference in London and Bern. The evolving economic landscape continues to influence frameworks such as the tax regime innovation, which supports financial adaptability.