EU-Kidding Me, Switzerland?
Technocratic officialdom just declared UBS, Zurich Insurance, Nestle, and in fact, the entire Swiss stock exchange, ‘off-limits.’ They’ve done what, now?
Once upon a time, a complex myriad of red tape allowed Swiss stocks to be traded across the European Union (EU). Brussels said enough’s enough to that and decided to craft one deal to rule them all. While that was being drafted, a Swiss subplot started to boil. Elections, euro-skepticism, and trade unionists became a focal point, and the EU’s immovable deal hit a Switzerland’s unstoppable sentiment. The treaty crumpled.
In short, the EU just sent the bloc’s fourth-largest exchange packing. The SIX, valued at $1.7 trillion with Nestle and Novartis on its register, is out it’s own bounds. We can’t invest in it anymore!
It’s hard to tell who has this worst. For a start, Swiss companies may be forced to other stock exchanges outside Switzerland. A few already have. Investors still with access could end up paying more for shares as, with a European third of orders gone, brokers recoup money by setting higher asking prices. And the officials behind all this? Truly at each other’s throats.
Within the political mire, many hoped both sides could iron out their differences and keep the “equivalence” agreement going. Nope. Switzerland is furious with the EU for what it sees as a flex of power in front of Britain, still in its Brexit muddle. Creating a theatre, it sounds like Brussels is shouting ‘don’t mess with us!’ in the direction of the UK, now teetering closer to a no-deal cliff edge. As Brussels endures its own leadership merry-go-round, Downing Street doesn’t even know to whom it should address its strongly worded letters…
All this couldn’t happen to British stocks, could it? Could it?!
