ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland will on May 1 end measures that imposed a block on trading of Swiss shares on EU bourses, the government said on Wednesday, making potential cross-border mergers easier.
Switzerland introduced protections for its stock exchange in 2019 when the EU withdrew its recognition of regulatory equivalence for the Swiss exchange amid a row over bilateral trade talks.
The move blocked trading of Swiss shares on EU-based exchanges, so that this would have to take place on Swiss bourses. Switzerland and the EU reached a new trade deal in December after years of often difficult negotiations.
“As the EU has since revised the corresponding legal basis, the Swiss protective measure with respect to the EU is now no longer necessary and is to be deactivated for the benefit of Swiss companies,” the Swiss government said in a statement.
“As a result, trading in Swiss equities on Swiss stock exchanges is no longer adversely affected by EU law,” it added.
The protective measures recently came under renewed scrutiny in Switzerland when it emerged that they could complicate a potential $30 billion merger between Swiss firm SGS and French rival Bureau Veritas that was then under consideration.
SGS later abandoned the merger talks, though a person familiar with the matter said the stock market protections had not played a significant part in that decision.
(Writing by Rachel More and Dave Graham, Editing by Miranda Murray and Toby Chopra)
