Supporting UK-Switzerland services trade
The UK and Switzerland have a golden opportunity to develop a new model for 21st Century services trade. Harnessing all the tools of trade policy to deepen this bilateral relationship is a top priority for the Financial and Professional Services (FPS) sector. Success would boost jobs, growth and prosperity in these challenging economic times.
‘Supporting UK-Switzerland services trade: Seizing the opportunity to develop a trailblazing cross-border relationship’ is published in partnership with TheCityUK and Professional Business Services Council. This work collates and builds on a significant body of detailed analysis developed by industry over the recent past. The paper highlights both the economic and strategic case for continued momentum behind current and upcoming negotiations, and argues that now is the time to turn ambition into reality.
The economic case
The UK and Switzerland are home to Europe’s two largest financial centres both sitting outside the European Union. UK and Swiss economies are deeply complementary. We share a common regulatory outlook in many areas and there exists high levels of trust between our institutions. Deepening this corridor will deliver growth across both jurisdictions by boosting mutual market access, providing businesses with certainty, removing costly duplication, and laying the foundations for collaboration into the future.
The strategic case
Achieving a deep and ambitious bilateral Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) in financial services would represent a genuinely trailblazing achievement. An ambitious MRA which delivers market access based on mutual trust between two regulatory regimes whilst protecting our independent regulators’ right to make market-specific policy would be a world first. Anchoring this MRA within an enhanced best-in-class Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would harness all the tools of trade policy to create a ground-breaking ‘Second Country’ framework fit for the modern world. This is a model that the UK could apply in negotiations with future trading partners.
The time is now
The challenges presented through high energy prices, global net zero commitments, and the urgent need for innovation to underpin growth reinforce the importance of facilitating cross-border financial flows with ever increasing starkness. Crucially, the warm political dynamics surrounding the current UK-Switzerland relationship provide us with an opportunity we should not miss.
Industry has welcomed the strong progress on Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) negotiations to date and is excited by the prospect of an enhanced upcoming UK-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement (FTA). With a change of administration in the UK, and global economic headwinds threatening living standards around the world, now is the time to turn this new UK-Switzerland relationship into reality.