SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Philippe M. Reich, Kaspar Projer, Samantha Salsench and Anna Zellweger, Baker McKenzie Switzerland AG
Baker McKenzie Switzerland AG Holbeinstrasse 30
8034 Zurich Switzerland
Tel: +41 44 384 14 14 Fax: +41 44 384 12 84 Email: zurich.info@bakermckenzie.com Web: www.bakermckenzie.com/en/locations/emea/switzerland
1. Trends and Overview 1.1 Sanctions Market
Under the sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus, there is no prohibition per se on conducting business in either Russia or Belarus – ie, there is no trade embargo. Nevertheless, doing so raises signifi - cant sanctions risks that must be carefully assessed in advance of any such business transactions, and in the wider context of the purpose underlying these sanctions. Many measures have been introduced in an attempt to cut Russia off from the global financial markets – eg, by designating a vast number of Rus - sian financial institutions. The sanctions imposed on Belarus were designed with similar purposes in mind and continue to be strengthened alongside the meas - ures targeting Russia. 1.2 Key Trends Companies, financial institutions and other market players are constantly having to adapt to new and expanded sanctions measures. There has been a cer - tain slowdown in the frequency of new EU sanctions packages, with three new packages adopted in the last 12 months (the 19th on 23 October 2025, the 20th on 23 April 2026, and the 21st on 23 July 2026), most of which have been comprehensive and expansive in scope. One notable trend is Switzerland’s increasing tempo - ral lag in implementing these EU measures. The 19th package was only fully implemented on 26 February 2026, while the 20th package had, at the time of writ - ing, been implemented only partially (limited to list - ings) as of 22 May 2026. It is expected that Switzer - land will not adopt the substantive measures included in the 20th package before mid-August 2026.
Over four years after the launch of the Ukraine inva - sion by Russia, companies continue to face the novel and ever-evolving sanctions regulatory land - scape. Throughout the war, sanctions measures have increased in complexity. The type and scope of sanc - tions imposed against Russia go beyond measures previously taken against other countries. The multitude of sanctions regimes, albeit their princi - ples being somewhat co-ordinated by the G7 at times, also gives rise to a number of challenges. Businesses often struggle to understand which sanctions regimes are applicable and often regimes are simultaneously applicable. Assessing which sanctions regime applies is the first step companies need to take, in order to ensure compliance. Some sanctions regimes, such as US sanctions, are notoriously extraterritorial and can apply even in the absence of a clear US jurisdic - tional nexus. Meanwhile, we are also seeing expan - sion tendencies in the EU, with its sanctions regime increasingly reaching beyond strictly its borders and persons. Switzerland, by contrast, continues to view sanctions primarily as territorial in scope, although certain effects are meanwhile also extending beyond its borders. This is mostly a consequence of the con - cept of “instruction or direction out of Switzerland”, which may lead to the application of Swiss sanctions to foreign group entities. At the same time, there is a continued broadening beyond traditional trade and financial sanctions to include services, investments and related areas.
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