UK Grants Equivalence to Swiss Exchanges for Purpose of UK Share Trading Obligation

U.K. legislation has been made granting equivalence to Swiss exchanges under the U.K.'s Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. The Markets in Financial Instruments (Switzerland Equivalence) Regulations 2021, which enter into force on February 3, 2021, grant equivalence to two Swiss exchanges - BX Swiss AG and SIX Swiss Exchange AG. U.K. MiFIR requires U.K. 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. U.K. investment firms will be able to comply with the U.K. MiFIR share trading obligation by trading shares on these Swiss exchanges.

The EU granted temporary equivalence to the same two Swiss exchanges for the period January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019. However, the equivalence was allowed to run out when it became clear that the trade talks between the EU and Switzerland were not progressing. The EU has not since renewed the equivalence for Swiss exchanges. However, Australia, Hong Kong and the U.S. continue to benefit from EU equivalence in this area. The EU has not yet granted equivalence to the U.K. for exchanges or in fact under any of the equivalence regimes, except for temporary equivalence for CCPs and central securities depositories.

View the UK equivalence decision for Swiss exchanges.

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