Swiss shares can be traded again in the UK

“The mutual recognition of equivalence will permit a healthy exchange and competition between the major financial centres in Switzerland and the UK," according to the chairman of SIX © Keystone / Ennio Leanza

The Swiss finance ministry has removed Britain from a list of countries requiring authorisation for its securities trading platforms.

This decision follows the recognition of the equivalence of Swiss stock exchange regulations by the British parliament, the stock exchange operator SIX said in a statementExternal link on Wednesday, the day the recognition entered into force.

The normalisation of relations between Switzerland and Britain in this area means that various trading venues in the UK can be automatically approved by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the latter said in a separate statementExternal link.

“On January 31, 2020, UK membership of the European Union ended,” the State Secretariat for International Finance explainedExternal link on Wednesday. “Subsequently, the finance ministry activated the protective measure with respect to the UK as well. The transition period in the relationship between the UK and the EU expired on December 31, 2020.”

‘Healthy competition’

Since January 2019, any trading venue from a European Union member state wishing to operate in Switzerland must obtain a licence. In November 2018, the government adopted an ordinance to this effect in response to Brussels’ failure to recognise Switzerland’s stock exchange equivalence.

“We’ve always supported open and international capital markets and it’s in the interests of national and international investors,” said Thomas Wellauer, Chairman of SIX, in the statement. “The mutual recognition of equivalence will permit a healthy exchange and competition between the major financial centres in Switzerland and the UK.”

The restrictions are maintained for other EU countries, the Zurich-based financial group said.