The UK has struck a new deal with Switzerland which will enable UK wealth managers to more easily serve Swiss clients, and vice versa.

The Treasury says UK financial advisers and wealth managers will be among those to benefit from the ability to access Swiss clients more easily.

The Treasury says the Berne Financial Services Agreement is the first of its kind.

The Treasury said: “British financial advisers to high-net-worth individuals will no longer need to be registered by Swiss registration bodies to serve Swiss clients. This will remove requirements to sit Swiss examinations or provide documentation evidencing suitability, cutting red tape for the UK’s financial advisory industry.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt called the deal a “ground-breaking pact” on financial services cooperation

The agreement will enable UK businesses to provide financial services to the Swiss domestic market, and vice versa, more easily.

The Treasury says the Berne Financial Services Agreement will give access to the Swiss market that no other country will have and follows the UK's exit from the EU.

The deal was signed between Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and his Swiss counterpart Karin Keller-Sutter this week. The agreement sets sectors where the UK and Switzerland will mutually recognise each other’s domestic laws and regulations on financial services.

The Treasury says this will make it, “easier for corporate and high net worth clients in the two markets to do business with each other.”

The Berne Financial Services Agreement covers asset management, banking and investment services.

For some sectors it means that a firm based in the UK will be able to serve clients in Switzerland while largely following UK rules, and vice versa.

The agreement also secures unique access for British insurance brokers to the Swiss market. From the start of 2024, Switzerland will require any non-Swiss firms to establish a base in the country before serving Swiss clients. The UK will be the only country in the world not required to do this, the Treasury says.

Mr Hunt said: “The Berne Financial Services Agreement is a global first and builds on the UK and Switzerland’s strengths as two of the world’s largest financial centres. It cements open access for financial services between our two nations for decades to come, helping us grow the economy and serving as a blueprint for future agreements with other key trading partners.”

Between 2016 and 2022, UK trade in financial and insurance services with Switzerland grew by 53% – reaching £3.28 billion in 2022.

The Treasury said the UK financial services sector is a significant contributor to the domestic economy and was valued at approximately £254 billion in the four quarters to Q2 2023. In 2020, around 40% of financial services to Switzerland were exported from UK regions outside of London and the South East and two out of three jobs in financial services are based outside of London.