The board members’ duty to loyalty

What? Recently, the press has often reported on the prosecution of the former CEO of Raiffeisenbank Switzerland, who is accused, among other things, of having built up hidden private shareholdings in companies before they were taken over by Raiffeisenbank. In doing so, he had realised profits in the millions. Assuming that these accusations could be…More

Late election of the members of the board – unintended consequences

What? Surprisingly often, directors and shareholders of public limited companies are not aware that there is a deadline for the election of the board of directors: The election must take place at a general meeting of shareholders (Art. 698 para. 2 item 2 of the Code of Obligations (CO)) and the general meeting must be…More

No garden leave without release agreement

What? When an employer terminates the employment relationship with an employee, he often releases the employee from work, either immediately or after a certain period of time. The garden leave is the release from the obligation to perform work. The employer’s obligation to pay wages continues. Often the employee is instructed to compensate for overtime…More

Exchange of Information between competitors

What? Very often, competing companies find themselves in the same business or industry associations. These take care of legitimate industry concerns such as professional and further training, joint advertising, lobbying in politics, etc. If the cooperation and contact between them is good, it is tempting to take anti-competitive measures together. Such measures are often seemingly…More

Operational Safety

You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. The operation of an enterprise not only bears fruit, but is also associated with a variety of dangers. The entrepreneur is obliged to limit the risks of his business activity for people and the environment and to ensure appropriate safety in his sphere of influence. Safety as…More

Criminal law sanctions for breaches of the data protection act

The last time most Swiss companies dealt with data protection was probably at the beginning of 2018, when the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force. At that time, new data protection declarations and policies were hastily drafted. In the meantime, one hears of high fines imposed on European companies for violations of…More

Taking residence in Switzerland – the special case for entrepreneurs

What rules apply if an entrepreneur would like to obtain the residence permit and start a business activity in Switzerland, i.e. for so-called self-employment? I am often confronted with the expectation that it is enough for the entrepreneur to set up a company in Switzerland and then the rules for foreign employees of a Swiss…More