Sanctions 2026

SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Philippe M. Reich, Kaspar Projer, Samantha Salsench and Anna Zellweger, Baker McKenzie Switzerland AG

erty rights or trade secrets related to those goods, provided that: • the aforementioned activities are strictly necessary for the withdrawal of investments from the Russian Federation or the termination of business activities in the Russian Federation; • the goods and technologies are, inter alia, owned by a legal person incorporated under Swiss law or the law of an EEA member state; and • the goods and technologies concerned were physi - cally present in the Russian Federation before the respective prohibitions entered into force in respect of those goods and technologies. This deadline was extended from 31 December 2025 to 31 December 2026 under the Swiss Federal Coun - cil’s implementation of the EU’s 19th sanctions pack - age on 29 December 2025. Specifically, the deadline was extended in line with the – then – latest EU sanc - tions package and the respective extension of the rel - evant deadline in Article 12b paragraph 1 of Regula - tion (EU) 833/2014. Article 30c paragraph 1 of the Ukraine Ordinance pro - vides that SECO may grant authorisations from the prohibitions on services and software under Article 28e of the Ukraine Ordinance until 31 December 2026 after consulting the Federal Departments for Foreign Affairs and Finance, provided that: • the services or software are strictly necessary for the withdrawal of investments from the Russian Federation or the termination of business activities in the Russian Federation; and • the services or software are provided exclusively for the benefit of the legal entities, organisations or institutions resulting from the withdrawal of invest - ments. Similarly, the deadline according to Article 30c para - graph 1 of the Ukraine Ordinance was extended fol - lowing the implementation of the – then – latest EU sanctions package and the respective extension of the relevant deadline in Article 12b paragraph 2a of Regulation (EU) 833/2014 to 31 December 2026.

Lastly, SECO has not (and likely will not) issue general guidance on whether share deals in an exit constel - lation, under which controlled items are being trans - ferred to a Russian party, require an (exit) licence. Rather, SECO maintains its position that it conducts a case-by-case assessment, on the basis of the circum - stances of the specific case. It is strongly suggested that one involves an experienced Swiss sanctions practitioner for the preparation of such submission to SECO asking for such case-by-case assessment. Implementation of Services and Software Ban The implementation of the EU’s services and software ban is a good example of SECO’s tendency to adopt a more pragmatic approach than the EU (so-called “Swiss finish”). In the 12th sanctions package, the EU abolished the so-called group or partner exception and introduced a licensing requirement which came into force on 30 September 2024, with regard to the provision of services to entities in Russia whose par - ent company is established in the EU. Authorities across member states, however, have been taking a different approach on such licensing requirement. Whilst regulators like the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Controls in Germany foresee an open general licence system, other regulators like the Direction Générale du Trésor in France require a more formal licensing process as intended by the European Commission. Although Switzerland usually mirrors the EU’s licens - ing provisions, it did not do so on this occasion. Instead, the exception continues to apply in Switzer - land where services or software are destined for the exclusive use of legal entities, companies or organi - sations established in Russia that are owned or con - trolled solely or jointly by legal entities, companies or organisations incorporated or registered under Swiss law, the law of an EEA member state or the law of a partner country. Article 28e paragraph 9 of the Ukraine Ordinance stipulates a notification duty for services or software provided under Article 28e paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 of the Ukraine Ordinance on a bi-annual basis (by 31 January and 31 July of each year). This means that the group exception continues to be available in Switzerland, albeit subject to a notification duty.

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