UK Implementation of the Berne Financial Services Agreement – UK Market Access for Swiss Financial Services Firms

1. Executive summary

The UK authorities have published the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Mutual Recognition Agreement) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025 (the “Regulations”) together with an Explanatory Memorandum, an FCA webpage and press release. These materials start translating the Berne Financial Services Agreement (“BFSA”) into UK law, set out the conditions under which firms may rely on the new access route and give UK regulators a suite of supervisory and enforcement tools.

As a result, from early 2026 eligible Swiss investment service providers will be able to deal with UK professional and high net-worth clients without UK authorisation. Firms intending to rely on the BFSA can start preparing now, and in particular express their interest. Preparations should include scoping the services they intend to provide in the UK, assessing the applicable compliance requirements, and considering how the BFSA access route will interact with other routes for servicing UK clients.  

2. Background

The BFSA between the UK and Switzerland was signed in December 2023 and aimed to create an outcomes-based system of mutual recognition for selected wholesale financial services.

Under the BFSA, Swiss investment services firms will be able to supply cross-border services to certain UK clients, including sophisticated high net worth clients, without obtaining authorisation in the UK. UK insurance companies will be able to provide wholesale insurance services into the Swiss domestic market without requiring Swiss authorisation.

The Regulations put in place the legislative changes necessary to implement this (using powers under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023). The Financial Conduct Authority’s (“FCA”) webpage explains the implementation timeline for the BFSA and clarifies how firms (both UK insurance firms and Swiss investment firms) can express interest in this mechanism under the BFSA.

The BFSA also “stabilised” certain other pieces of market access for wholesale financial services between the UK and Switzerland – for example the ability of UK firms to provide investments services to Swiss institutional and professional clients, access for trading venues, regulatory recognition of central counterparties and portfolio delegation channels between the UK and Switzerland.

3. UK market access for Swiss investment firms

The Regulations and FCA webpage set out the details of how Swiss investment firms may avail themselves of the BFSA mechanism for UK market access.

Scope of Market Access

The market access promised under the BFSA is implemented for Swiss firms in the Regulations via an amendment to the Regulated Activities Order. This essentially means Swiss firms are not regarded as carrying out the following regulated activities when it falls in scope of their registered market access:

• dealing as principal;
• dealing as agent;
• arranging deals in investments;
• managing investments;
• safeguarding and administering investments;
• advising on investments; and
• agreeing to carry on specified kinds of activities.

These broadly correspond to the UK regulated activities that are equivalent to the services specified in the BFSA (which are specified in terms of their “MiFID” services).

These activities are excluded for “relevant financial instruments” – which cover transferable securities, money market instruments, units in funds and derivatives.

The exclusion covers these activities with “relevant clients”, who (per the BFSA) are:

• high net worth clients (in summary being persons with net access in excess of £2m who have made certain declarations);
• per se professional clients under UK law; and
• eligible counterparties under UK law.

So in summary, the market access covers most kinds of investment services with more sophisticated clients.

Eligibility

To be eligible, a Swiss firm must (in summary):

• be authorised and supervised as a bank, securities firm, fund management company, manager of collective assets or as a portfolio manager to supply the relevant services in Switzerland;
• not be authorised in the UK to supply the relevant services in Switzerland;
• be incorporated or formed under Swiss law;
• satisfy the BFSA “good standing” criteria;
• notify the FCA and be placed on the register (although in practice the FCA’s webpage suggests this notification is done via the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (“FINMA”)).

Registration process

Swiss firms intending to use the regime will need to notify FINMA via the FINMA survey and application platform (EHP). Firms will need to provide their name, FRN, contact details and services they wish to supply into the UK and declare they meet the eligibility criteria.

If successful, FINMA will confirm the firm is eligible and of good standing to the FCA within 60 days.

Upon receipt of this confirmation the FCA will place the firm on the public BFSA register within 30 days (and notify the relevant firm), at which point the firm can commence supplying services into the UK.

If a firm is removed from the register, it enters a wind down regime whereby it can service existing contracts for a period of 5 years.

4. Compliance requirements

Whilst the intention of the BFSA is that the UK defers to Swiss authorisation and compliance with Swiss rules when it comes to the Swiss firms obtaining market access in the UK, there are still some UK compliance requirements for Swiss firms to bear in mind:

• Swiss firms should be aware of the UK rules on “financial promotions”, which (separately from authorisation) restrict communications with UK persons. Swiss firms using the regime will benefit from financial promotions exemption. Firms will need to have compliance procedures in place to ensure that their communications are correctly scoped to fall within this exemption (including with respect to the persons receiving them), or that another financial promotions exemption can be relied upon.  
• Swiss firms will be subject to FCA product-intervention powers and rules. Examples of instances where the FCA has used these powers include prohibiting retail marketing and distribution of cryptoasset derivatives and ETNs, and CoCos.
• Swiss firms should also be aware of other UK regulations that could be relevant to their services or marketing. For example, UK fund marketing requirements will apply where funds are marketed in the UK through the BFSA access route.
• UK regulators will have powers to request information from registered Swiss firms, and to publicly censure and restrict the provision of services by firms that do not comply. The UK regulators also have other powers envisaged by the BFSA, such as to implement the agreement’s prudential safeguard.

5. Interaction with existing UK regimes

1. Overseas Persons Exclusion – The most common regime for servicing UK clients that a Swiss firm (not already authorised in the UK) is likely to be using currently is the overseas persons exclusion (“OPE”). A registered Swiss supplier cannot rely on the OPE for a service that it uses the BFSA mechanism for, but it may continue to use the OPE for other activities not recorded on the BFSA Register. So there is some scope for Swiss firms using the BFSA mechanism to provide a broader range of services by combining their market access with use of the OPE.
2. Part 4A authorisation – A Swiss firm already authorised in the UK for a service cannot rely on the BFSA for that service, but may carve out separate activities from Switzerland.

6. Timing and next steps

Currently eligible firms can express their interest in the BFSA, but it is expected that the BFSA will enter force in early 2026.

The FCA will consult on changes to their Handbook to reflect the BFSA in September 2025, and detailed operational guidance will be published in November 2025.

In the meantime, eligible Swiss firms should consider:

• whether the BFSA route is of interest to them, and whether it should be used alongside other routes for servicing UK clients (such as full authorisation, or the OPE);
• scope their services and client types to ensure that they fall within the BFSA, and put in place the relevant compliance procedures to check and monitor this;
• assess the UK rules and requirements that will be applicable to them so that relevant compliance processes can be updated.

Any firms requiring assistance with this can contact the key contacts listed.