Council of States approves financial agreement with the UK
Published: Thursday, Dec 19th 2024, 09:50
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The Council of States has approved the financial agreement concluded last year between Switzerland and the UK. It unanimously approved the agreement on the mutual recognition of financial services on Thursday.
According to Tiana Angelina Moser (GLP/ZH), the spokesperson for the Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation said that it would give Swiss financial service providers in particular access to wealthy clients in the UK and British insurance companies access to Switzerland.
Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter said that the result of the agreement was "unique" and of a pioneering nature. At the signing of the agreement in Bern a year ago, Keller-Sutter said that for the first time two countries had mutually recognized the equivalence of their respective legal and supervisory frameworks in selected areas of the financial sector on the basis of an in-depth review.
There were no further votes in the Council of States. The parliaments in both countries must approve the agreement before it can enter into force. In Switzerland, the agreement still has to go through the National Council.
It includes the recognition of equivalence in the areas of banking, investment services, insurance, asset management and financial market infrastructures for professional clients, as was announced a year ago.
In the area of financial services, in particular wealth management, Swiss providers will be able to operate across borders. Based on the agreement, British private clients with assets of over GBP 2 million can be served directly across borders in future.
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