Switzerland: Government, Public Sector

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has issued a landmark ruling on shareholder approval requirements during composition moratorium proceedings, while the Federal Council has initiated consultation on a new Investment Screening Ordinance. These developments represent significant shifts in Swiss corporate restructuring procedures and foreign investment oversight mechanisms.

Switzerland's Federal Council proposes a stricter Lex Koller that would subject listed real estate funds, SICAVs, and real estate companies to authorization requirements for the first time. The reform aims to address housing shortage concerns but faces criticism for treating capital market investments like direct land ownership, raising questions about enforceability, proportionality, and unintended consequences for the financial center.

Switzerland's Federal Council has opened consultation on the Investment Screening Ordinance, which establishes the implementing provisions for the Swiss Federal Act on the Review of Foreign Investments adopted in December 2025. The ordinance details approval requirements, procedures, and exemptions for foreign state-controlled acquisitions of Swiss companies in critical sectors, while introducing anti-circumvention measures and a fee structure ranging from CHF 5,000 to CHF 60,000.

La présente Newsletter de Monfrini Bitton Klein vise à offrir, de manière hebdomadaire, un tour d'horizon de la jurisprudence rendue par le Tribunal fédéral...

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The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has validated minimum wage regulations in Zurich and Winterthur, overturning lower court decisions and affirming that municipalities possess constitutional autonomy to establish local wage floors. With minimum wages of CHF 23.90 and CHF 23.00 per hour respectively now set to take effect, the ruling settles a key question about the division of legislative powers between cantonal and municipal authorities in Switzerland's federal system.

In August 2025, Washington imposed a 39% tariff on Swiss exports, later reduced to 15% through a framework arrangement. Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling...

The UNCITRAL Model Clauses on Specialised Express Dispute Resolution (SPEDR) introduce a framework for rapid, interim-binding dispute resolution in construction projects, combining expedited adjudication with compliance arbitration mechanisms. This analysis examines how SPEDR differs from traditional arbitration and FIDIC dispute boards, its potential to preserve cash flow and project continuity, and the practical considerations parties must weigh when implementing this emerging international framework.

Switzerland's Federal Council has adopted a dispatch to revise the Federal Act on Banks and Saving Banks, requiring systemically important banks like UBS to fully back foreign subsidiary participations...

With the new Federal Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities and the Identification of Beneficial Owners (LETA), Switzerland is establishing, for the first time, a central electronic register of the beneficial owners of companies (transparency register). The LETA, the related ordinance (LETO) and the revised Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) will enter into force on 1 October 2026.

Das Bundesverwaltungsgericht hat eine FINMA-Enforcement-Verfügung gegen eine Bank weitgehend aufgehoben.

Switzerland's revised Anti-Money Laundering Act introduces new due diligence obligations for advisers participating in certain transactions, while preserving professional secrecy for core legal work. Where does the line fall between protected legal advice and covered transactional support that triggers statutory compliance duties?