Colin Vidal: «There’s No Drama, No Drama At All!»

The financial agreement with the UK opens up cross-border opportunities for Switzerland, writes Colin Vidal in his article on finews.com.

finews.first is a forum for authors to comment on economic and financial topics.

As Robert De Niro said in a now famous ad about Switzerland; «There’s no drama, no drama at all!». Although somewhat of an overstatement, Switzerland does continue to stand out for its political and financial stability, its infrastructure, and its investor-friendly regulations. These all contribute to making the country a global banking leader and an unavoidable destination for asset managers looking for investors. Colin Vidal writes

In the context of 2024, the Swiss fund market continues to grow with assets under management increasing to over CHF1.5trn, an increase of over CHF130bn since January, with both equities and money markets seeing growth in the same timeframe. We see growing demand for funds from local players and increased interest from foreign managers who are attracted to the Swiss investor landscape.

«The agreement is unique»

Rather than react and endure the changing regulatory landscape just beyond its borders, Switzerland has sought to shape it in a bid to solidify its standing and increase investor confidence. Thus, was born a landmark agreement between Switzerland and the UK, home to Europe’s financial capital: London. The agreement is unique as it emphasizes mutual recognition of each country's financial regulations rather than harmonization, a model espoused by the EU.

The Berne Financial Services Agreement (a.k.a., the Mutual Recognition Act or «MRA»), signed on December 21, 2023, aims to enhance the cross-border market access of certain wholesale financial services between the UK and Switzerland. This agreement is significant as it mutually recognizes the equivalence of the two countries' legal and supervisory frameworks across several financial sectors, including banking, investment services, insurance, asset management, and financial market infrastructures.

Crucially, the agreement will allow British firms and wealthy individuals from the financial services sectors — including banking and asset management — to operate in Switzerland while still following the U.K.’s regulatory rulebook and vice versa.

«Indications show that the EU has likely come to accept the unique role Switzerland has»

Although the UK and Switzerland are positioning themselves as key financial hubs outside the EU, there has been a muted response from the bloc. Current indications show that the EU has likely come to accept the unique roles both London and Switzerland have in the global financial landscape and are unlikely to react with any meaningful response. Indeed, while Brexit led to some initial relocations of financial professionals from London to EU cities like Frankfurt and Paris, many have since returned, reaffirming London's enduring appeal as a global financial center.

For the agreement itself, the MRA enhances legal clarity for in-scope investment services, such as portfolio management and investment advice. Importantly, it will also enable firms to engage with certain sophisticated clients across borders without facing obstacles. Market access procedures, client classifications, and disclosure requirements are clearly defined in the MRA, while asset managers are provided with greater certainty regarding fund marketing and portfolio management delegation.

Colin Vidal is the Head of Clients & Business Development at Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo.

Previous contributions: Rudi Bogni, Peter Kurer, Rolf Banz, Dieter Ruloff, Werner Vogt, Walter Wittmann, Alfred Mettler, Robert Holzach, Craig Murray, David Zollinger, Arthur Bolliger, Beat Kappeler, Chris Rowe, Stefan Gerlach, Nuno Fernandes, Richard Egger, Maurice Pedergnana, Marco Bargel, Steve Hanke, Urs Schoettli, Ursula Finsterwald, Stefan Kreuzkamp, Oliver Bussmann, Michael Benz, Albert Steck, Martin Dahinden, Thomas Fedier, Alfred Mettler, Brigitte Strebel, Mirjam Staub-Bisang, Nicolas Roth, Thorsten Polleit, Kim Iskyan, Stephen Dover, Denise Kenyon-Rouvinez, Christian Dreyer, Kinan Khadam-Al-Jame, Robert Hemmi, Anton Affentranger, Yves Mirabaud, Katharina Bart, Frédéric Papp, Hans-Martin Kraus, Gerard Guerdat, Mario Bassi, Stephen Thariyan, Dan Steinbock, Rino Borini, Bert Flossbach, Michael Hasenstab, Guido Schilling, Werner E. Rutsch, Dorte Bech Vizard, Katharina Bart, Maya Bhandari, Jean Tirole, Hans Jakob Roth, Marco Martinelli, Thomas Sutter, Tom King, Werner Peyer, Thomas Kupfer, Peter Kurer, Arturo Bris, Frederic Papp, James Syme, Dennis Larsen, Bernd Kramer, Armin Jans, Nicolas Roth, Hans Ulrich Jost, Patrick Hunger, Fabrizio Quirighetti, Claire Shaw, Peter Fanconi, Alex Wolf, Dan Steinbock, Patrick Scheurle, Sandro Occhilupo, Will Ballard, Nicholas Yeo, Claude-Alain Margelisch, Jean-François Hirschel, Jens Pongratz, Samuel Gerber, Philipp Weckherlin, Anne Richards, Antoni Trenchev, Benoit Barbereau, Pascal R. Bersier, Shaul Lifshitz, Klaus Breiner, Ana Botín, Martin Gilbert, Jesper Koll, Ingo Rauser, Carlo Capaul, Markus Winkler, Thomas Steinemann, Christina Boeck, Guillaume Compeyron, Miro Zivkovic, Alexander F. Wagner, Eric Heymann, Christoph Sax, Felix Brem, Jochen Moebert, Jacques-Aurélien Marcireau, Ursula Finsterwald, Michel Longhini, Stefan Blum, Zsolt Kohalmi, Nicolas Ramelet, Søren Bjønness, Gilles Prince, Salman Ahmed, Peter van der Welle, Ken Orchard, Christian Gast, Jeffrey Bohn, Juergen Braunstein, Jeff Voegeli, Fiona Frick, Stefan Schneider, Matthias Hunn, Andreas Vetsch, Fabiana Fedeli,  Kim Fournais, Carole Millet, Swetha Ramachandran, Thomas Stucki, Neil Shearing, Tom Naratil, Oliver Berger, Robert Sharps, Tobias Mueller, Florian Wicki, Jean Keller, Niels Lan Doky, Johnny El Hachem, Judith Basad, Katharina Bart, Thorsten Polleit, Peter Schmid, Karam Hinduja, Zsolt Kohalmi, Raphaël Surber, Santosh Brivio, Mark Urquhart, Olivier Kessler, Bruno Capone, Peter Hody, Michael Bornhaeusser, Agnieszka Walorska, Thomas Mueller, Ebrahim Attarzadeh, Marcel Hostettler, Hui Zhang, Michael Bornhaeusser, Reto Jauch, Angela Agostini, Guy de Blonay, Tatjana Greil Castro, Jean-Baptiste Berthon, Marc Saint John Webb, Dietrich Goenemeyer, Mobeen Tahir, Didier Saint-Georges, Serge Tabachnik, Vega Ibanez, David Folkerts-Landau, Andreas Ita, Michael Welti, Fabrizio Pagani, Roman Balzan, Todd Saligman, Stuart Dunbar, Carina Schaurte, Birte Orth-Freese, Gun Woo, Lamara von Albertini, Ramon Vogt, Andrea Hoffmann, Niccolò Garzelli, Darren Williams, Benjamin Böhner, Mike Judith, Jared Cook, Henk Grootveld, Roman Gaus, Nicolas Faller, Anna Stünzi, Thomas Höhne-Sparborth, Fabrizio Pagani, Guy de Blonay, Jan Boudewijns, Sean Hagerty, Alina Donets, Sébastien Galy, Roman von Ah, Fernando Fernández, Georg von Wyss, Stefan Bannwart, Andreas Britt, Frédéric Leroux, Nick Platjouw, Rolando Grandi, Philipp Kaupke, Gérard Piasko, Brad Slingerlend, Dieter Wermuth, Grégoire Bordier, Thomas Signer, Gianluca Gerosa, Christine Houston, Manuel Romera Robles, Fabian Käslin, Claudia Kraaz, Marco Huwiler, Lukas Zihlmann, Sherif Mamdouh, Harald Preissler, Taimur Hyat, Philipp Cottier, Andreas Herrmann, Camille Vial, Marcus Hüttinger, Serge Beck, Alannah Beer, Stéphane Monier, Ashley Simmons, Lars Jaeger, Shanna Strauss-Frank, Bertrand Binggeli, Marionna Wegenstein, George Muzinich, Jian Shi Cortesi, Razan Nasser, Nicolas Forest, Joerg Ruetschi, Reto Jauch, Bernardo Brunschwiler, Charles-Henry Monchau, Ha Duong, Teodoro Cocca, Jan Brzezek, Nicolas Mousset, Beat Weiss, Pascal Mischler, Andrew Isbester, Konrad Hummler, Jan Beckers, Martin Velten, Katharine Neiss, Claude Baumann, Daniel Roarty, Kubilay Yalcin, Robert Almeida, Karin M. Klossek, Marc Taverner, Charlie T. Munger, Daniel Kobler, Patrick Stauber, Colin Vidal, Anna Rosenber, Judith Wallenstein, Adriano Lucatelli, Daniel Goleman, Val Olson, Brice Prunas, Francesco Magistra, Frances Weir, Luis Maldonado, Francesco Magistra, Nadège Lesueur-Pène, Massimo Pedrazzini, Eric Sarasin, David Ellis, Dina Ting, Christopher Gannatti, Shaniel Ramjee, Mihkel Vitsur, Nannette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, Ralph Ebert, Chris Cottorone, Francesco Mandalà, Mariolina Esposito, Maryann Umoren Selfe, Dominique Gerster, Marc Arand, Christian Kälin, Nadège Dufossé, Benjamin Melman, Brigitte Kaps, Florin Baeriswyl, Marc Reinhardt, Thomas Holderegger, Beat Wittmann, Bruno Cavalier, Gary Burnison, Louise Curran, Adrian Cox, Philip Adler, Serge Fehr,  Marc Lussy, and Axel Brosey.