On 2 February 2021, the FCA updated its statement on the operation of the MiFID markets regime by adding a new section concerning the trading of Swiss shares.

The updated section states:

“Pending Parliamentary approval of HMT’s equivalence decision and action by the Swiss Government, it will soon be possible for UK firms to meet their obligations under the share trading obligation on Swiss exchanges and for UK trading venues to be able to offer trading in Swiss shares. We are confirming, consistent with the above Supervisory Statement, how aspects of UK markets regulation will apply to Swiss shares that resume trading on UK trading venues.

For the purposes of calibrating the pre and post-trade transparency regime, Swiss shares that resume trading on UK trading venues will be treated as if they are being traded on a UK trading venue for the first time. An estimate will be made of the relevant parameters based on the characteristics of the shares to apply from their first day of trading. These estimates will then be updated after 6 weeks based on data from the first 4 weeks of trading in the UK.

The same logic as for transparency parameters will apply for tick sizes, with an initial estimate updated after 6 weeks by a calculation based on data for the first 4 weeks of trading in the UK. These figures may result in different tick sizes than currently apply for trading of these instruments on exchanges in Switzerland. UK trading venues will be allowed to use the minimum tick size that applies in Switzerland where that is smaller than the minimum tick size based on the figures for the average daily number of transactions (ADNTE) that we publish through our Financial Instruments Transparency System (FITRS).”