Suchergebnisse für Aktienrecht

Venture Capital, ESG and Sustainable Investments

Sustainability is a pressing issue that requires addressing various environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges. The venture capital industry has the potential to play a crucial role in sustainable investments due to its characteristics, such as long-term investment horizons and investor protections. However, sustainability has yet to become a major topic in private equity and venture…

Actions de loyauté : une fausse bonne idée

Over its summer session 2018, the Swiss National Council adopted the possibility for companies limited by shares (sociétés anonymes/Aktiengesellschaften) to include in their articles of association certain financial privileges to the benefit of shareholders registered for at least two consecutive years in the share register (loyalty shares). This article presents the legislative work in progress…

ESG Considerations and Public Benefit Corporations

There appears to be an international demand among investors for for-profit enterprises that commit to a social or environmental purpose and consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects. Inspired by U.S. legislation, EU and other state legislators have enacted statutes with new legal forms of business organizations – so-called benefit corporations – or are considering to do so in…

Sanierungsausnahme und selektives Opting out/up – ein Vergleich

If a listed company is in financial difficulties and has found a potential restructurer who wishes to acquire a larger shareholding but does not wish to be under an obligation to make an offer to acquire all listed equity securities of the company, under the Swiss takeover law two alternatives stand in the foreground: applying for an exemption from the obligation to make an offer for…

Identification des actionnaires, restrictions de transfert et « white listings »

Identification of shareholders is a topic that is governed by various layers of rules under Swiss law, which were adopted at different times to serve different purposes. Most of these rules were adopted at a time when the structure of capital markets was very different from what it is today, and before the digitalization of securities became a topic. Also, growing focus on the fight against money…

Auskunfts- und Einsichtsrecht des Aktionärs – Durchzogene Bilanz der Aktienrechtsrevision

The revision of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) concerning the joint stock corporation – which will come into force on 1 January 2023 – substantially alters the shareholders’ rights to ask for information about the affairs of the company and to inspect its ledgers and files. Compared to the present legal situation, which only entitles a shareholder to obtain information during the course of a…

Geschäftsherrenhaftung im Konzernverhältnis?

On November 29, 2020, the Corporate Responsibil­ity-Initiative failed in the referendum by a majority of the cantons. The debate on the Corporate Responsibility Initiative and the indirect counter-proposal of the Swiss Parliament focused on the question of the extent to which Swiss companies should be held liable for the activities of the companies they control in the area of human rights and…

Aktien als individualisierte Rechte und die dadurch in der Trias Mitgliedschaft –Wertpapier/Wertrecht –Bucheffekte verursachten Probleme

Shares (Aktien) in the sense of memberships (Mitgliedschaften) in corporations are in principle individualized, non-fungible rights. They come into existence as non-certified shares (unverbriefte Aktien). In order to make them more negotiable such non-certified rights are often wrapped into a cover (Hülle). By this wrapping process (Umhüllung) the non-certified shares are transformed into…

Marge de fluctuation du capital (art. 653s ss nCO) : de la sauvegarde des créanciers et des actionnaires, en particulier lors de l’acquisition par la SA de ses propres actions

As of the entry into force, on 1^st January 2023, of the revised Swiss Limited Companies Law (« Aktiengesell­schaft », « société anonyme »), the margin of fluctuation of capital (« Kapitalband », « marge de fluctuation du capital ») will allow the general assembly of shareholders to authorise the board of directors to increase or reduce the share capital within a certain interval during a maximum…

Relationship Agreements zwischen Vertragsfreiheit und zwingendem Aktienrecht

Relationship agreements between listed companies and large shareholders have gained in popularity over the past years. Relationship agreements cover such topics as the shareholder’s representation on the board of directors, voting at shareholder meetings, the shareholder’s right to receive information from the company, and exit provisions (e.g., lock-up and standstill undertakings). From the…