The Swiss financial centre’s expectations with regard to the mandate for negotiations between Switzerland and the EU
The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) welcomes the adoption of the draft mandate for negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union (EU). It marks a further milestone in stabilising and developing Swiss-EU relations. As far as the Swiss financial centre is concerned, the main priorities are market access and restarting dialogue on financial regulation.
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The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) welcomes the adoption of the draft mandate for negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union (EU). With the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs taking the lead, this marks a further milestone in stabilising and developing Swiss-EU relations. Since banking is an export industry, improved market access is vital to the survival and future prosperity of Switzerland’s leading international financial centre. The EU single market is a core market for the Swiss financial centre: banks in Switzerland manage assets totalling some CHF 1,000 billion1 on behalf of EU clients, and tens of thousands of jobs depend on this cross-border business.
The fact that the EU and Switzerland have agreed to restart dialogue on financial regulation in their Common Understanding is to be welcomed, but the Swiss banks bemoan the lack of a clear political agreement on this, the fourth element of the package for negotiation listed in the report on the exploratory talks between Switzerland and the EU and one that plays a key role in terms of market access. They therefore see it as essential to set out precise negotiating guidelines for this element, as for all of the others, in the mandate.
These guidelines should state that restarting dialogue on financial regulation will serve to promote regular exchange between the two sides and analyse the options for improving market access in depth – in particular the institution-specific approach, aimed at opening the EU market up to interested Swiss institutions by having them register with the EU supervisory authorities. Another key topic Switzerland needs to address in its dialogue on financial regulation is the rapid conclusion of the ongoing equivalence process in the financial sector. The SBA will be happy to assist the Federal Department of Finance in this matter.
1 This figure is based on the SBA’s Banking Barometer 2023 as well as data supplied by Boston Consulting Group.