The Berne Financial Services Agreement (BFSA) is an agreement between Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the treaty the two countries recognise their legal and supervisory framework as equivalent in certain financial segments. It simplifies mutual market access for financial service providers from the investment services and insurance sectors. The BFSA was signed in Berne on 21 December 2023 and is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2026 following ratification by both parliaments.
FINMA is today publishing guidelines on how interested institutions can benefit from the BFSA.
The guidelines are intended to simplify access to the BFSA for Swiss and British supervised institutions. They contain technical and practical details of the processes provided for by the BFSA as well as information on simplified market access. FINMA’s guidelines are supplemented by the guidelines provided by the competent UK supervisory authorities, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Guidelines
