Stuck In Neutral: Switzerland's Lost Equivalence Status

August 1 marked Switzerland's national holiday to celebrate its independence from what was then the pan-European Holy Roman Empire. While Switzerland has since then carved out a clear set of rules on what, when, how and to whom it permits access to its financial markets, its bilateral relations with the European Union have been very much in the spotlight over the first half of 2019. In July, a standstill in negotiations concerning a new framework agreement between the EU and Switzerland culminated in tit-for-tat moves that saw the EU withdraw Switzerland's status of financial equivalence i.e. permitting Swiss and EU financial market participants relative freedom to access each other's markets and infrastructure. The move comes against the backdrop of Brexit negotiations and several other recent EU decisions on equivalence. Until now, no negative side effects for Switzerland have arisen, but it is unclear whether this will remain the case. This loss of equivalence status