The U.K. and Switzerland are deepening the ties between their financial services sectors with a new post-Brexit deal.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
LONDON — The U.K. and Switzerland on Thursday will sign a post-Brexit financial services deal designed to bring two of Europe’s largest banking centers closer together.
British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt is meeting with his Swiss counterpart, Karin Keller-Sutter, in Bern to sign the mutual recognition agreement, which they are expected to say will ease business ties between financial firms and wealthy individuals in the two markets.
The U.K. Treasury said Wednesday that the deal was a win for post-Brexit Britain that would improve cross-border market access for a range of financial services sold by banks, insurers and asset managers.
“The Bern Financial Services Agreement is only possible due to new freedoms granted to the UK following its exit from the EU,” the Treasury said, according to the FT. “The agreement will enhance the U.K. and Switzerland’s already thriving financial services relationship,” it added.
The details of the agreement have yet to be formally announced. However, some commentators said it would likely mark an improvement on the equivalence framework Britain had with Switzerland while in the European Union.
David Henig, U.K. director at independent think-tank the European Centre for International Political Economy, said the deal was “broadly good news” which would leverage Britain’s heft in the financial services sector.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak initially launched talks with Switzerland in 2020, when he was finance minister, claiming that the accord would demonstrate the countries’ shared vision of an “open, global and free” economy.
The current Conservative government in Britain has long positioned signing new trade deals as a key benefit of Brexit. In June, Britain signed a deal to join an 11-nation Asia-Pacific free-trade bloc that includes Australia, Singapore, Japan and Canada, marking its third new trade deal since formally exiting the bloc on Jan. 31, 2020.
The UK and Switzerland are set to sign a post-Brexit financial services deal that aims to strengthen the ties between the two countries’ banking sectors. The agreement, called the Bern Financial Services Agreement, will be signed by British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt and his Swiss counterpart, Karin Keller-Sutter. The deal is expected to facilitate business cooperation between financial firms and wealthy individuals in both markets. The UK Treasury has hailed the agreement as a win for post-Brexit Britain, stating that it will enhance the already thriving financial services relationship between the two countries. The details of the deal have not been officially announced yet, but it is anticipated to improve on the equivalence framework that the UK had with Switzerland while being part of the European Union. This agreement is seen as a positive development leveraging Britain’s influence in the financial services sector. The UK government has been actively pursuing new trade deals as a key benefit of Brexit, with this deal marking another milestone in that effort.
)
