On 1 January 2022 the Swiss Financial Services Act (“FinSA“) and the Swiss Financial Institutions Act (“FinIA“) entered into force. While the FinSA provides for a wide range of new rules applicable to financial service providers, irrespective of their licensing status, and new documentation rules applicable to financial instruments, the FinIA introduced, among other things, new licensing requirements for portfolio managers and trustees. The two acts provided for a number of transition periods; on 31 December 2021 the clock ran out on most of these transition periods.

By Patrick Schärli (Reference: CapLaw-2022-04)

The Financial Services Act and its implementing ordinance require prospectuses to be supplemented in case a new price-sensitive fact has arisen between the time of approval of the prospectus and final completion of a public offer or opening of trading on a trading venue. Such supplements have to be approved by the competent Reviewing Body, unless the information containing the price-sensitive fact is included in an ad hoc notice, in which case the supplement can be merely filed with the Reviewing Body without approval. The revision of the ad hoc rules per 1 July 2021 abolished the per se reportable facts, which has an impact on issuers dealing with certain price-sensitive information prior or around the time of an issuance of securities.

By René Bösch / Benjamin Leisinger (Reference: CapLaw-2021-60)

Recent years have seen regulatory institutions around the world introduce mandatory corporate disclosure regimes related to climate and environmental, social and governance (“ESG“) matters, largely as a response to the increasing materialization of ESG risks, in particular global heating and climate-driven natural catastrophes, as well as the growing awareness of the importance of full and transparent disclosure of the impact these risks have on corporations’ business and financial stability. They are also intended to create transparency around the effect that rapidly changing legislation and government policy in respect of environmental matters, such as the prioritization of renewable energy over fossil fuels, have on corporate entities within certain sectors. 

The global trend towards disclosure regimes of this kind is rapidly accelerating. In Switzerland, a number of initiatives have been introduced that represent first steps towards the corporate disclosure of ESG risks. Most recently, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (“FINMA“) introduced a new climate risk disclosure regime earlier this year. This article first examines the requirements and impact of FINMA’s new regime, and follows by situating this initiative within the broader context of Swiss and international ESG disclosure regimes. 

By Deirdre Ní Annracháin (Reference: CapLaw-2021-61)

As the second batch of regulations concerning distributed ledger technology (DLT) just entered into force on 1 August 2021, this article highlights some of the key changes made to the Blanket Ordinance in the Area of Blockchain (Mantelverordnung im Bereich Blockchain) between the draft subject to consultation on 19 October 2020 and the final version of the ordinance that was published on 18 June 2021, with a focus on provisions that are of interest for capital market activities relying on DLT and related products. 

By Stefan Kramer / Sandrine Chabbey (Reference: CapLaw-2021-50)

As of 1 July 2021, SIX Exchange Regulation Ltd (SER), the supervisory authority for issuers listed at SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX), revises the rules on ad hoc publicity in the Listing Rules (LR) and the Directive on Ad hoc Publicity (DAH). While the changes might not seem substantial at first, some details of the revised provisions are delicate, and issuers should carefully consider some practical consequences when releasing information in the future. The following article contains an overview of the changed provisions, including an initial assessment of their consequences. 

By Andrea Rüttimann (Reference: CapLaw-2021-34)

The Swiss Federal Council proposes the abolition of withholding tax on bond interest in its dispatch. The proposed abolition will make it easier for companies to issue their bonds from Switzerland. There is also a chance that intra-group financing activities will increase in Switzerland.

By Stefan Oesterhelt / Philippe Gobet (Reference: CapLaw-2021-35)

As of 1 January 2021, the legal framework governing the commercial register in Switzerland has been modernized. The new rules primarily comprise amendments to the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO, article 927 et seq.) and to the Commercial Register Ordinance (CRO). The author highlights the key changes that the new rules did—and did not—bring about.

By Daniel Häusermann* (Reference: CapLaw-2021-17)

In its efforts to adapt the Swiss legal framework to take into account business activities that rely on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), the Federal Council recently published the draft blanket ordinance in the area of blockchain. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the most salient features of the proposed provisions, focusing on topics that may be of relevance for DLT-based capital market related activities.

By Stefan Kramer / Sandrine Chabbey (Reference: CapLaw-2021-18)

On 29 November 2020, the initiative on responsible enterprises failed. The initiative provided, among others, liability of Swiss enterprises for their subsidiaries abroad who have breached human rights or environmental standards. As a result, the parliament’s indirect counterproposal will likely enter into force (subject to a potential popular referendum). The indirect counterproposal provides for (i) non-financial reporting duties for larger publicly traded companies and prudentially supervised financial institutions as well as (ii) human rights due diligence requirements for enterprises processing or importing conflict minerals or enterprises having a reasonable suspicion of child labor. 

By Annette Weber (Reference: CapLaw-2021-19)

On 16 November 2020, the Swiss financial markets regulator FINMA published details of the partial revision of circular 2016/7 on video and online identification. The notable changes relate to the use of biometric passport data and a clarification regarding the engagement of specialized third party service providers for remote client identification. The consultation period for the proposed changes has ended on 1 February 2021. The revised circular is expected to enter into force in mid-2021.

By Aline Anthenien / Katrin Ivell (Reference: CapLaw-2021-04)