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)