Introduction
In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008/2009,
Switzerland launched a massive overhaul of its financial
regulations. These reforms followed several objectives.
First, banking regulations were revised to ensure the stability of
the financial system, in line with the recommendations of the
Financial Stability Board ("FSB") and other international
standard-setters. Second, Switzerland reacted to EU law in
order to ensure equivalence and to be able to continue to access
the European market as a third-party state. Therefore, the
reforms also aimed to align Swiss law with EU regulations Directive
2014/65/EU on Markets in Financial Instruments II ("MiFID
II") and Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 on Markets in Financial
Instruments ("MiFIR") to ensure Swiss financial
institutions' access to the European financial markets.
Finally, the reforms were geared to revising Swiss regulations from
a patchwork of sectorial rules to a consistent
