European Commission Declares Stock Exchanges in Switzerland Equivalent for the Purposes of the Shares Trading Obligation Under MiFID II

The European Commission has adopted an Implementing Decision declaring the two Swiss stock exchanges equivalent for the purpose of the shares trading obligation under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. MiFIR requires EU investment firms to ensure that the trades they undertake in shares admitted to trading on a regulated market or traded on a trading venue take place on a regulated market, multilateral trading facility, systematic internaliser or equivalent third-country trading venue.

The legal and supervisory framework of SIX Swiss Exchange AG and BX Swiss AG have been assesses as equivalent to the requirements of MiFIR, the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, the Market Abuse Regulation and the Transparency Directive.

This equivalence decision will allow investment firms to comply with the MiFID II shares trading obligation when shares are traded on SIX Swiss Exchange AG or BX Swiss AG. Swiss stock exchanges are authorized and supervised by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The Implementing Decision, which will enter into force once it has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, is limited to one year, until December 31, 2018.

View the Commission Implementing Decision and Annex.