Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer is travelling with financial and fintech representatives to South America

Bern, 16.07.2018 - From 18 to 20 July 2018, Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer will make a working visit to Brazil and Argentina. He will be accompanied by the State Secretary for International Financial Matters Jörg Gasser and representatives of the Swiss financial and fintech sectors. In Buenos Aires, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, Thomas Jordan, will also take part in the meetings. The talks will focus on the current bilateral dossiers on financial and tax issues and the bilateral cooperation in the area of financial services.

The Head of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer, will have discussions with his counterparts in Brazil and Argentina, both countries are members of the G20. In addition, he will meet the two central bank governors, representatives of the supervisory authorities, as well as private-sector players.

In Brazil, Switzerland's most important partner state in South America, above all opportunities and risks in the investment sector will be addressed and market access issues will be discussed. The application of the bilateral double taxation agreements (DTA) which was signed in May, will also be broached. Morevoer, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the Comissao de Valores Mobiliares will sign a memorandum of understanding in the fintech area on the spot.

In Argentina, the visit will allow a financial and regulatory dialogue to be conducted with the responsible authorities. The focus of these talks will be Argentina's comprehensive economic reforms which are being supported by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) credit programme of nearly USD 50 billion. The exchange with state and private-sector players in Brazil and Argentina will take place in the context of Switzerland's financial market policy for a competitive Swiss financial centre. This also includes opening doors for the private sector overseas. The delegation will also have the opportunity to outline the favourable framework conditions for the financial sector and fintech companies in Switzerland. The delegation correspondingly includes about a dozen financial and fintech sector representatives.

Following the working visits to Brazil and Argentina, on 20 July 2018, Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer will participate in the meeting of the G20 finance ministers in Buenos Aires. On the fringes of this meeting in Buenos Aires a bilateral exchange is envisaged with the Chilean finance minister accompanied by the delegation of financial sector representatives to complete the perspective of the South American financial centres. Further purely bilateral meetings of Federal Councillor Maurer with G20 counterparts are anticipated.

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