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Select committee: International Agreements Committee

UK-Swiss Financial Services Agreement

Closed Opened 26 Jan 2024 Closed 7 Jan 2025

International Agreements Committee Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Inquiry scope (the committee's words)
The Committee has invited evidence on the Berne Financial Services Agreement. The Government notified the treaty to Parliament in December 2023 under the terms of the Constitutional and Reform Governance Act 2020 (CRAG).

Where it stands

The inquiry is closed, opened 26 January 2024.

The committee has published 1 report, most recently 9th Report - Scrutiny of international agreements: UK-Switzerland Agreement on the Mutual Recognition of Financial Services on 29 April 2024.

The government's response

Published 23 January 2025. The deadline was 29 June 2024.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the Committee's endorsement of the Berne Financial Services Agreement and says it is focused on implementation, which both countries aim to complete by the end of 2025 at the latest.

  • On parliamentary oversight of regulators' MoUs, the Government says it is "appropriate for the independent regulators to agree these MoUs in line with their usual processes", but the MoUs "are expected to be published once they are signed" and shared with the Committee.
  • On expansion, it welcomes the Committee's support for exploring sectoral expansion "at the appropriate time", noting that Article 12 commits both countries to negotiate with a view to potentially including sustainable finance.
  • On similar agreements with other jurisdictions, it says it is "open to considering further agreements of this nature where there is mutual interest and these conditions are met", citing conditions such as high regulatory standards.
  • On uptake of the Agreement, it says it will continue to engage with industry, and will monitor usage once it is in force, including through an FCA register of Swiss firms using the access provided.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Reports

All reports

Evidence

  • 1 oral evidence sessionLatest 6 February 2024
  • 5 witnesses
All evidence

Recent activity

Reports

1 report

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

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Date Session and witnesses Source
6 Feb 2024
Oral evidence session
Carol Hall · Association of British Insurers (ABI), Marie Miauton · HM Treasury, Nick Collier · City of London Corporation, Nicola Watkinson · TheCityUK, Richard Knox · Financial services 		View ↗

Who gave evidence

5 witnesses

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WitnessOrganisationSessions
Carol Hall · Head of EU and International Affairs Association of British Insurers (ABI) 1
Marie Miauton · Senior Lawyer, Trade and Negotiations Team, Treasury Legal Advisors, Government Legal Department HM Treasury 1
Nick Collier · Managing Director City of London Corporation 1
Nicola Watkinson · Managing Director, International TheCityUK 1
Richard Knox · HMT Director Financial services 1