SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Beda Kaufmann, Alexander von Jeinsen, Daniel Raun and Laurent Riedweg, Advestra
Outlook Switzerland inevitably seems to be moving towards a more regulated future, with new or revised laws in the pipeline that are expected to – directly or indirectly – affect investing in Switzerland. This trend may well be accelerated by recent political developments, bringing national security concerns to the top of law-makers’ agendas amid increased geopolitical challenges. At the same time, there appears to be an awareness within Switzerland as to the country’s role in a glo - balised economy and thus also its reliance on for - eign investments, as is evidenced by the fact that the scope of the Federal Act on the Control of Foreign Investments was reduced significantly during the leg - islative process. Similarly, even though the SIEC test for merger control assessments will allow for more active intervention by the Competition Commission (ComCo), no efforts are currently being undertaken to lower the comparatively high turnover thresholds subjecting transactions to ComCo review. Lastly, Switzerland’s revised corporate law is an example of a piece of legislation that – at least in part – aims to give investors more flexibility when dealing with Swiss companies. Consequently, it is expected that Switzerland will remain an interesting and attractive market for inves - tors, against the backdrop of tightening regulations.
2024, resulting in a new set of bilateral agreements that are currently being deliberated in Switzerland. There appears to be a general political consensus in Switzerland that bilateral agreements with the EU are the way forward in principle. However, there are dif - fering views as to whether the set of agreements as negotiated in December 2024 should be endorsed. Obligations for Switzerland to dynamically implement certain EU laws are a key concern for those opposed, as are topics around immigration and dispute resolu - tion. It is also still unclear whether the bilateral agree - ments will be subject to a public vote under a manda - tory referendum, which requires higher thresholds for consent than a voluntary referendum. In view of this, the near future of Switzerland’s relationship with the EU remains somewhat undecided. At the same time, it is clear that Switzerland’s regula - tory environment and its legal developments are heav - ily influenced by developments in the EU. One recent example is the Swiss Federal Council’s decision to fully take on the EU sanctions regime in connection with the war in Ukraine. In other matters, while Swit - zerland maintains its legislative independence, there has been – and continues to be – an alignment of Swiss laws with their EU counterparts. In the recent past, this has resulted in a fundamen - tal revision of the capital markets and financial ser - vices regulation framework and has continued with regard to Switzerland’s revised Federal Data Protec - tion Act, which came into force in September 2023. By the same token, the Parliament in December 2025 approved the revision of the Swiss Cartel Act. Most importantly, the revision introduces the “SIEC (sig - nificant impediment of effective competition) test” for merger control assessments, which is already applied in the EU. The revised Cartel Act will come into force in 2027 at the earliest.
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