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The Berne Financial Services Agreement (BFSA) is a treaty between the UK and Switzerland on mutually recognizing the equivalence of legal and supervisory framework in specific areas. It entered into force on 1 January 2026 and establishes a new form of mutual market access in the areas of wealth management, securities services, insurance, asset management and financial market infrastructures.
Swiss wealth managers and UK insurance companies benefit most from the BFSA due to facilitated access to the other market. This blogpost focuses on Swiss financial institutions intending to provide financial services to high-net-worth clients, professional clients or eligible counterparties in the UK. It sets out the scope of the simplified market access and describes the registration process. After being registered, Swiss institutions can provide financial services in the UK without holding a UK license and without being supervised by UK regulators.
Scope of the simplified market access
The BFSA defines the scope of the simplified market access by four prongs, being the type of license held in Switzerland, the classification of the UK client, the type of services provided, and the type of financial instruments involved. Only if all four prongs are met, Swiss institutions may benefit from the simplified market access.
Type of license
Only Swiss institutions holding a license as a bank, securities firm, fund management company (Fondsleitung), manager of collective assets or portfolio manager can benefit from the simplified market access. The license held, the articles of association, the organizational regulations, and the governance framework of eligible Swiss institutions must allow for providing the specific service and the service must actually be provided in Switzerland. Also, the geographic scope of the Swiss institution’s governance documentation must include the UK.
Not eligible for providing services under the BFSA are Swiss trustees, institutions according to art. 1b Banking Act (Fintechs), single-family-offices without a portfolio manager license, financial intermediaries being a member of a self-regulatory organization for AML-purposes, and financial service providers registered in the client advisor registry. Neither are UK branches and representative offices of Swiss institutions eligible for providing services under the BFSA.
Client classification
Swiss institutions may provide services under the BFSA to high-net-worth clients, professional clients, and eligible counterparties that are residents or based in the UK. High-net-worth clients are defined in the BFSA itself. The definitions of professional clients and eligible counterparties are in line with existing UK rules.
High-net-worth clients are either individuals or private investment structures set up for an individual (e.g., family offices or trusts). In case of private investment structures, the BFSA differentiates between such with a qualified expert overseeing the investment activity and such without.
An individual qualifies as high-net-worth if the individual has net assets of at least GBP 2 million and understands the services provided by the Swiss institution including the associated risks. In addition, the individual must declare in writing that it would like to be classified as high-net-worth client and to understand that it cannot rely on the usual UK investor protection rights – like the Financial Services Compensation Scheme – for the services provided by the Swiss institution.
A private investment structure set up for an individual with a professional treasury function, qualifies as high-net-worth client if an individual has appointed the investment structure as having the overall responsibility for managing its assets on an ongoing basis. At least one qualified person with expertise in financial matters has to work for the private investment structure. This expert must be able to understand the services provided by the Swiss institution and the risks. The individual for whom the investment structure acts must be based in the UK and have net assets of at least GBP 2 million. A signatory of the investment structure has to confirm in writing that it wants to be treated as a high-net-worth client and acknowledge that the investor protection rights under UK law are not available.
A private investment structure set up for an individual without a professional treasury function qualifies as high-net-worth client if - instead of an expert - the individual for whom the assets are managed can understand the services provided by the Swiss institution including the risks. Other than that, the same requirements must be met as for a private investment structure with a professional treasury function.
In addition, the Swiss institution can provide services to per se professional clients (e.g., large undertakings or trustees of a trust with at least GBP 10 million assets) and eligible counterparties (e.g., investment firms or collective investment schemes). These terms are defined in line with the UK rules.
Type of service
Both investment services and ancillary services can be provided under the BFSA. The terms are defined according to the UK rules. The Swiss institution providing these services under the BFSA has to be authorized to provide these services in Switzerland and actually already provide these.
Investment services are order reception and transmission, execution of orders, dealing on own account, portfolio management, investment advice, and underwriting/placement activities with or without firm commitment. Communicating with prospects to evaluate whether they are eligible clients under the BFSA is permitted too.
Ancillary services are custody of financial instruments, cash and collateral management. Not permitted are, however, the maintenance of accounts at a central securities depository and acting as custodian of UK funds, which must appoint a UK entity as custodian. Granting credits or loans to the client for trading activities with the Swiss institutions is allowed, as are FX services and investment research and financial analysis. Advising entities on capital structure, industrial strategy, and services related to M&A and underwriting qualify as ancillary activities too. These ancillary services may be provided in connection to an investment service or on a standalone basis.
Type of financial instrument
The financial instruments in relation to which the services may be provided are defined according to the UK rules and include transferable securities (e.g. shares, depository receipts, bonds, and other forms of securitized debt), money market instruments (e.g., UK treasury bills, commercial papers, certificates of deposit, and (reverse-) repurchase agreements), collective investment schemes, alternative investment funds, money market funds, and derivatives.
Registration process
Swiss institutions must be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) before starting to provide services under the BFSA in the UK. To this end, the Swiss institution must submit a notification on FINMA’s EHP-platform (Erhebungs- und Gesuchsplattform). The information to be provided on the EHP encompasses contact information, information on the Swiss license type, a description of the services to be provided under the BFSA, a confirmation that the Swiss institution is authorized to provide the services and already offers the services outside the BFSA, and a confirmation that the institution will meet the conditions of the BFSA (namely, providing only covered services in covered instruments to covered clients). FINMA performs a properness review on the information submitted on the EHP-platform within 60 days. If the review is passed, FINMA issues a “good standing letter” to the FCA. The FCA will then register the Swiss entity within 30 days. The Swiss institution may provide services under the BFSA as of the date of the publication in the register. Providing correct and precise information from the beginning facilitates a smooth and fast registration process.
The information provided on the EHP-platform must be kept up to date. Registered Swiss institutions must submit an annual report on their activity under the BFSA. The content of the annual report is rather light and includes information on the number of clients supplied, anonymized information on material complaints, information on whether title transfer collateral arrangements have been concluded, the overall turnover (and if greater than GBP 50 million in two consecutive reporting periods, a split of the revenue in services and instruments). FINMA does not review the annual report but receives a copy.
Our services
Our legal and regulatory practice supports clients in providing financial services cross-border. As for providing services under the BFSA, we support clients namely by
- assessing the feasibility of providing services under the BFSA;
- supporting in relation to the registration process;
- drafting/supplementing governance documentation like organizational regulations and BFSA cross-border manuals; and
- providing ongoing support to meet the ongoing requirements after being registered, namely by answering ad-hoc questions and supporting them in meeting annual reporting requirements.
Contact us
Lisa Cornwell
Benjamin De Zordi
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