The Swiss Federal Council yesterday agreed to bring the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FMIA, also known as “Finfrag”)  into force as of 1st January 2016. The announcement together with links to the acts (including an English translation) can be found here. The rules encompass much of what is found in EMIR as well as fragments of MiFID II. There are some important differences: For example trade reporting is “one sided”, i.e. only the “larger” or selling party must report, which greatly reduces the burden on smaller market participants.  The rules come into force following a phased timetable.

This news follows the recognition of Switzerland, amongst a group of five countries, that received CCP equivalence recognition from the European Commission last week, as announced here. This allows non-EU CCPs to apply for recognition  under EMIR.