The Swiss Funds Association has welcomed last week’s decision by the Swiss government’s Federal Council to put the Alpine state’s fund regulations into line with EU law, a move designed to boost growth of the continent’s fund industry.

The Federal Council has adapted Article 31 of the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Ordinance to make it compatible with EU law.

Together with the planned changes in how the Swiss financial regulator will authorize UCITS funds, Swiss regulations now fit with EU standards, making Switzerland a more attractive place to distribute UCITS funds, according to a statement from the Swiss Funds Association.

The changes will come into force on 1 March this year.

“Regulation in the financial sector must be coordinated internationally if it is to bring its full effectiveness to bear. Special regulations on a national level lead to additional costs and obstacles to competition, which are ultimately detrimental to investors. The SFA is therefore actively committed to removing mutual barriers to market access,” said Dr Gérard Fischer, president of the SFA.

“Investors will also profit from Swiss funds being regulated in an EU-compliant manner and from the authorization of foreign UCITS not being made more difficult by the imposition of special Swiss rules. In future, investors will have a broader selection of Swiss and foreign products at their disposal,” said SFA chief executive Matthäus Den Otter.

The move was also welcomed by Carne Global Financial Services, the independent consultant to the hedge fund, traditional fund and wealth management industries.

The Swiss compliance requirement represented an additional burden for EU harmonised foreign funds distributed into Switzerland, Carne said.

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