The UK and Switzerland have agreed an equivalence agreement which will allow Swiss shares to resume trading on London exchanges such as Cboe Europe, Turquoise (LSE), Aquis and UBS MTF this week.
in 2019 the EU revoked Switzerland's equivalence over disputes during trade talks. This meant that while the UK was a EU member they were not able to let Swiss stocks trade in London. Switzerland is the 4th largest market in Europe, behind London, Frankfurt and Paris. Shares such as Nestle, Novartis and Roche are some of Europe's most actively traded shares. Swiss trading returned to Zurich, but although Swiss market gain was an advantage, liquidity decreased and trading efficiency decreased as the SIX Swiss Exchange's order to trade ratio decreased.
London is hoping that the Swiss share trading will help to balance the share trading lost to European centers after London lost their EU equivalence. Switzerland is looking to a cross-border link with the UK to allow Swiss stocks to be traded in London and settled in Switzerland.
The British and Swiss governments are now working on a more comprehensive equivalence agreement covering banking, insurance and asset management.
