UK and Switzerland seal financial services deal

BERN — Britain and Switzerland unveiled a post-Brexit financial services agreement on Thursday, aimed at making it easier for corporate and wealthy people in both countries to do business together.

The deal, formally known as the Berne Financial Services Agreement, will see the two countries mutually recognise each other's domestic laws and regulations on financial services.

That will enable "frictionless, cross-border provision of financial services" between the two countries in areas such as asset management, banking and investment services, the UK's finance ministry said.

"The Berne Financial Services Agreement is a global first and builds on the UK and Switzerland's strengths as two of the world's largest financial centres," Britain's Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said.

"It cements open access for financial services between our two nations for decades to come, helping us grow the economy and serving as a blueprint for future agreements with other key trading partners." 

Hunt travelled to Switzerland on Thursday to ink the new deal alongside his Swiss counterpart Karin Keller-Sutter. 

The UK government has been eager to strike post-Brexit trade pacts around the world, as it tries to highlight tangible benefits from its contentious departure from the EU in 2020.

It has struck numerous bilateral deals, particularly with faster-growing economies in Asia, and joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

But potentially lucrative pacts with India and the United States remain elusive.

The Bern deal will in certain sectors allow a UK-based firm to serve clients in Switzerland while largely following UK rules, and vice versa, according to the UK finance ministry.

It also secures "unique access" for British insurance brokers to the Swiss market, it noted. 

Britain will be the only country in the world exempt from new rules in 2024 requiring non-Swiss firms to establish a base in the country before serving Swiss clients, the ministry said.

That will put UK brokerage firms "at a significant advantage to international competitors as they can continue to do business as they always have done". 

"The Berne Financial Services Agreement is only possible due to new freedoms granted to the UK following its exit from the European Union," the ministry said.

"The agreement will enhance the UK and Switzerland's already thriving financial services relationship," it added, noting their trading in financial and insurance services grew by 53 per cent to reach £3.28 billion in 2022.