SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Philippe Nordmann, Marion Bähler, Dario Glauser, Christian Hagen and Samuel Lieberherr, Walder Wyss Ltd
Walder Wyss Ltd Seefeldstrasse 123 PO Box
8034 Zurich Switzerland
Tel: +41 58 658 14 50 Fax: +41 58 658 59 59 Email: philippe.nordmann@walderwyss.com Web: www.walderwyss.com
1. Legal System 1.1 Legal System and Judicial Order Switzerland has a civil law legal system. The most important source of law is written law. Switzerland’s federalist structure has three lev - els: • the Confederation (the federal state); • the cantons (the states); and • the municipalities (the local areas). The Federal Constitution ranks first in the order of priority. It allocates certain authorities to the Federal Confederation. Where an area is not allocated to the Federal Confederation, the can - tons exercise sovereign rights. The different forms of written law generally have the following order of priority: • federal laws prevail over cantonal laws; • constitutional rules prevail over ordinary stat - utes; and • statutes enacted by a legislative body prevail over regulations prepared by a government or administrative body.
2. Restrictions on Foreign Investments 2.1 Approval of Foreign Investments The topic of foreign investment control is cur - rently on the political agenda in Switzerland. Unlike many neighbouring countries, Switzer - land has no foreign investment control regime in place. No notification or clearance of a gov - ernmental agency is required when a foreign national or a foreign company invests in Swit - zerland or acquires a Swiss company. However, in specific sectors such as residential real estate, banking, insurance, national defence and elec - tricity, sector-specific restrictions apply. Depending on the outcome of current political initiatives, Switzerland might implement a limited foreign investment control regime in the foresee - able future. The administration published a piece of draft legislation at the end of 2023 focusing on state-owned investors active in particular critical sectors. There is still opposition to the draft leg - islation, with the argument being that the cost/ benefit ratio is unfavourable and the existing regulations are sufficient. It remains subject to the further political process as to whether – and,
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