Internationales und ausländisches Recht

The Elephant in the Chalet

Switzerland is currently reforming the legislative framework of its financial industry. The legislative ­debate is focused on gaining market access into the ­European Union through equivalence, understood as unilateral transposition of EU financial legislation by Switzerland. It is very much an “us against them” ­rhetoric which is erroneous on several levels: First of all, the discussion focuses…

Financial Benchmarks: Bedeutung, Problematik und regulatorische Ansätze

Financial benchmarks have become important reference points in the global financial market guiding worldwide obligations in financial contracts in the amount of hundreds of billions of US-Dollars. Since July 2012, after the attempted manipulation of Libor became known, the issues of credibility and representativeness of such widely used financial benchmarks are in the spotlight of the global…

Disgorgement Remedy for Duty of Loyalty Violations

Wrongdoing should not be rewarded. – Although this is considered a core idea of Swiss law’s understanding of justice, the legal system is struggling with the principle’s satisfactory implementation when it comes to wrongfully obtained profits. One would expect the law to provide for suitable legal instruments to disgorge any gains unduly made by wrongdoers, particularly if the wrongdoer is a…

Organisierte Handelssysteme im neuen FinfraG – Versuch einer ­regulatorischen Kategorisierung

The new Financial Market Infrastructures Act (FMIA) introduced a new regulatory framework for trading venues and organized trading that was inspired by EU regulations EMIR, MiFID II and MiFIR that concep­tually distinguishes between stock exchanges, multila­teral trading facilities (MTFs) and organized trading facilities (OTFs). Among these regulatory categories the OTF poses various difficulties…

Europareport

Mit Urteil vom 20. Januar 2016 (Rs. C-428/14) hat der Gerichtshof der Europäischen Union (nachfolgend auch: «EuGH») zum Kronzeugenregelungsmodell in der EU Stellung genommen und ausdrücklich noch einmal klargestellt, dass die Kronzeugen­rege­lungen der Union und ihrer Mitgliedstaaten eigenständig nebeneinander bestehen.

Business Judgment Rule und Rechtsrisiken

Legal risks are currently the most dangerous threat for global corporations. This article analyses the question whether the Swiss Business Judgment Rule (BJR) may also provide a “safe harbour” for decisions based on legal uncertainties. This may look surprising, since corporations are bound to comply with the legal environment in which they are operating, therefore illegal behaviour should not be…

Europareport

In vier am 10. März 2016 verkündeten Urteilen hat sich der Gerichtshof der Europäischen Union (nachfolgend auch: «EuGH») mit den – durch EU-Regelungen nur in den Grundzügen geregelten – Anforde­rungen an Auskunftsbegehren der Europäischen Kommission (nachfolgend auch: «Kommission») in Kartellverfahren befasst. Die in jenen Verfahren streitrelevanten Auskunftsverlangen, die an vier…

Europareport

In einem am 2. Juni 2016 erlassenen Urteil hat sich das Gericht der Europäischen Union (nachfolgend auch: EuG) erneut mit dem Spannstahl-Kartellfall auseinandergesetzt und die Klagen von vier spanischen Gesellschaften abgewiesen.

Wer kontrolliert die Aktiengesellschaft?

In Switzerland as in other countries, there is a perennial debate relating to the question of who controls a listed company, and whose interests a corporation should serve: the largest shareholders, minority shareholders, or other stakeholders? And what is the influence of management or the recent phenomenon of proxy advisors on decision-making in listed companies? The author analyzes the issues…

Stimmenmehrheit unter Verdacht: Wege und Irrwege im aktienrechtlichen Minderheitenschutz

Recent developments in the area of corporation law ­indicate a dichotomy between calls for more “shareholder democracy” and an increasing suspicion about “shareholders’ majority decisions”. Corporations have to date been governed following the model of “subjection of the minority to the majority”, with the steady approval of the courts. This guiding principle, which is at the core of a…