Suchergebnisse für aktienrechtliche Verantwortlichkeit

Informationskonzept im neuen Aktienrecht

The information asymmetry between shareholders and managers calls for the implementation of an efficient information concept within stock corporations. In the course of the Swiss Stock Corporation Reform of 2020, the former information concept was partially revised. This article takes a critical look at the revised provisions and puts them in context.

Konzernorganisationsrecht heute

The Swiss law of groups of companies is characterized by a scarcity of statutory rules, judicial pragmatism, and a flexible application of the rules by companies. Unusually, the density of statutory rules in this domain has decreased in recent years. In this article, the author summarizes the current status of the organizational law of groups of companies and takes a closer look at selected…

Klimawandel

Climate litigation against companies has increased significantly in the past couple of years, not only in the United States, but also in Europe. At the same time, regulation with respect to climate change is developing rapidly, such that it may be difficult for companies to identify which laws apply to them and how they should address the legal risks relating to climate change and climate…

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…

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…

Das Finanzmarktaufsichtsrecht vom vierten Quartal 2020 bis ins vierte Quartal 2021

Nachhaltige Finanzanlagen erfreuen sich stark steigender Nachfrage.¹ Wo viel Business ist, ist der Missbrauch oftmals nicht weit. Angesichts der derzeitigen hohen Intransparenz, ob und inwiefern einzelne Finanzanlagen gewisse Nachhaltigkeitskriterien erfüllen, hat der Finanzminister schon öffentlich gewarnt: «Die Gefahr von Greenwashing ist gross.»² Dementsprechend besteht seitens der…

Statutarische Gerichtsstandsklauseln

Jurisdiction clauses are ubiquitous in commercial contracts. They are less common in the articles of association of Swiss corporations. However, our analysis shows that jurisdiction clauses are a helpful and effective in­strument for Swiss corporations, especially in an international context. The effects are especially pronounced under the Lugano Convention, because according to case law of the…

Die Abschaffung der Sachübernahmevorschriften im neuen Aktienrecht

Under current Swiss corporate law the acquisition of assets from a shareholder intended prior the formation of the company is subject to the same rules as a payment of subscribed capital by contribution in kind. An (intended) acquisition of assets occurs when the company intends or undertakes to acquire certain assets of its shareholders or of a person closely related to a shareholder soon after…

Interessenkonflikte unter dem neuen Aktienrecht

As every person, board members and managers have or represent interests. It is unavoidable and nothing «evil» that these interests may sometimes not be aligned with the interests of the company they serve. However, if not properly dealt with, conflicts of interest may become a problem harming the company. As part of the 2020 revision of corporate law, the Swiss parliament has adopted a new art…

Prospektrechtliche Gleichbehandlungspflicht bei Ausnahmen von der Prospektpflicht

In the absence of a duty to publish a prospectus, art. 39 of the Swiss Financial Services Act (FinSA) obliges offerors and issuers to treat investors equally when providing them with material information on a public offer of securities. This provision is applicable in cases in which securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a trading platform if the obligation to publish a…

CSR-Berichterstattung Ante Portas: Indirekter Gegenvorschlag zur Konzernverantwortungsinitiative

In a popular vote held in November 2020, the controversially debated «Swiss Responsible Business Initiative» was rejected. As a matter of constitutional procedure, the Parliament’s Counterproposal from 2019 will now automatically come into force. Unlike the Initiative, the Counterproposal refrains from introducing a foreign direct liability of Swiss businesses for infringing human rights or…

Das Kapitalband im neuen Aktienrecht

On June 19, 2020, the National Council and the Council of States adopted the revision of the Swiss law on companies limited by shares. This article deals with the capital band («Kapitalband») that introduces the possibility for shareholders to authorize the board of directors to increase and reduce the share capital without previous resolution by the general meeting. In line with an…

Konzernverantwortungsinitiative: Was ändert sich bei einem JA?

The highly debated Swiss Responsible Business Initiative will be put to public vote in November 2020. If the electorate supports the position of the Initiative, a provision titled «Responsibility of Businesses» will be introduced into the Swiss Constitution. According to this provision companies seated in Switzerland would be required to respect internationally recognized human rights and…

Le droit des sociétés 2019/2020 / Das Gesellschaftsrecht 2019/2020

La décision judiciaire la plus importante de l’année écoulée concerne le droit des groupes de sociétés, à savoir le Cash Pooling, mais cette fois dans le contexte de la responsabilité du conseil d’administration (1.). Un autre arrêt important clarifie l’exercice de la clause échappatoire pour le refus au transfert des actions nominatives liées (2.). La jurisprudence a en outre eu l…

Aktienrechtliche Verantwortlichkeit: Zur gerichtlichen Prüfungsbefugnis im Anwendungsbereich der Business Judgment Rule (Zurückhaltungsregel)

In the context of directors’ and officers’ liability, the ­so-called Business Judgment Rule and its Swiss equivalent – which is also referred to as the Rule of Restraint (Zurückhaltungsregel) – aim to protect the exercise of discretion when making business decisions. According to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, the judicial review of business decisions must be conducted with restraint if i) the…

Konzept und Praxis der aktienrechtlichen Sanierung

This essay deals with capital loss and overindebtedness and the related duties of the Board of Directors according to the current Swiss Code of Obligations. Furthermore, a look is taken at the future Swiss restructuring law. It has been concluded that Swiss restructuring law does little credit to its name as most restructuring proceedings end in bankruptcy of the respective company. One possible…

Aktuelle Rechtsprechung zur Haftung im Konzern

Federal court rulings on liability of the parent company in a Group have developed further since the classic decisions of the nineties in the matters of Swissair and Motor-Columbus. This article provides an overview of the handed down by the Federal Supreme Court over the past ten years. The article shows that the Court did not decide these cases based on principles of director’s liability,…

Das Gesellschaftsrecht 2018/2019 / Le droit des sociétés 2018/2019

Im vergangenen Jahr stechen wiederum die Verantwortlichkeitsklagen gegen geschäftsführende Organe hervor (1.). Die weiteren Fälle betreffen die Akkreditierung von Revisoren (2.) sowie die Rechtsprechung zur Vertretung der Gesellschaft bei Interessenkonflikten (3.) und die gemischte Anwalts-AG (4.).

Das schweizerische Bankprivatrecht 2018 / Le droit bancaire privé suisse 2018

Das Jahr 2018 brachte einen reichen Fundus an Entscheiden im privaten Bankrecht. Etliche davon schreiben Geschichten fort, über die wir bereits in früheren Übersichten berichtet hatten. Dazu gehört die Klage des Drogeriekönigs Müller gegen die Bank J. Safra ­Sarasin im Zusammenhang mit den sogenannten Cum-­Ex-Geschäften (r34), die Fortsetzung der Verantwortlichkeitsklage der Glarner…

Gedanken zum einstweiligen Rechtsschutz gegen pflichtwidriges Handeln von Verwaltungsräten

Swiss law does not allow for the challenge of resolutions taken by the board of directors of a corporation, and only in extreme cases they may be deemed null and void. However, according to a recent decision by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, this does not exclude claims against a corporation to enforce statutory rights that were denied by the board of directors. Against the background of this…

Das Finanzmarktauf­sichtsrecht vom vierten Quartal 2017 bis ins vierte Quartal 2018

Seit die Marktteilnehmer aus regulatorischen Gründen oder eigenem Antrieb vermehrt mit regulierten Gegenparteien zusammenarbeiten wollen, gelten finanzmarktaufsichtsrechtliche Bewilligungspflichten nicht nur als Bürde, sondern auch als «Würde». Als schwerer Eingriff in die verfassungsmässig geschützte Wirtschaftsfreiheit bedürfen Bewilligungspflichten einer Grundlage in einem formellen Gesetz.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown – Zur Rolle des Verwaltungsrates in schweizerischen Publikumsgesellschaften

The board of directors of a Swiss public company is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Shareholders breathe down directors’ necks with earnings expectations, but the results are delivered by an executive management under the board’s control rather than by the board itself. The executives who run the business on a day-to-day basis know the company better than the board. This allows them to…

Gouvernance des groupes: «E Pluribus Unum»?

The atomistic vision of the legal independence of a company comprised within a group reflects a historical conception. This view is not consistent with the reality of the group, which has become a predominant model structure in the economic sphere. The recognition in case-​law of the group’s interest would allow the economic phenomenon to be taken into account in a positive manner, while…

«Gute Praxis» der Unternehmensführung: Was gehört sich und was funktioniert?

The legal means influencing the practice of the board are very largely the rules on director’s liability. The case law of the Federal Court has recently made these rules more efficient and more foreseeable through the development of a Swiss version of the Business Judgement Rule (BJR). They could be further improved if the Courts were to integrate Corporate Governance models in the BJR condition…

Pflichten des Verwaltungsrats einer möglichen Zielgesellschaft

Even though the shareholders are the addressees of a takeover bid, the sale process of a listed target company is largely determined by the target’s board of directors: The board of directors is responsible for the negotiations prior to the publication of a takeover bid and can often influence by its actions whether a (possibly un­friendly) takeover bid will occur. Of decisive importance for the…

Die Regelung von Interessenkonflikten im Aktienrecht de lege lata und de lege ferenda

Conflicts of interest are a threat to the functioning of the board of directors and the management of a public limited company. This paper looks into the legal regime applicable in cases of a conflict of interest while dealing with third parties. It then tries to establish rules to safeguard an internal decision-making process solving conflicts of interest. Finally it assesses the effectiveness…

Wie die Arbeit, so der Lohn – Vergütung in privaten und kotierten Gesellschaften

Rising executive pay is a vital topic for shareholders, proxy advisors, academics and the wider public. It is worth noting that the remuneration of auditors for their audit services has hardly attracted shareholder attention even though falling audit fees may be a reason for weaknesses in corporate control. In this perspective it looks like an anomaly that the remuneration of the party…

Aktuelle Rechtsprechung zum Aktienrecht

Over the last two years, Swiss company law jurisprudence has been subject to numerous developments and clarifications. The following article discusses selected examples of recent federal and cantonal case law. A first section deals with a Federal Supreme Court decision on the attribution of company bodies’ knowledge to the legal entity. It provides an in-depth analysis of the de­cision and sets…

Le régime de responsabilité civile en matière d’émissions publiques de jetons digitaux (ICO)

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) consist of an innovative form of capital raising. In the digital era, it has become technically possible to raise substantial funds within a very short period of time. This paper analyses the civil liability regime applying to misrepresentations communicated to investors acquiring tokens in an ICO. Pursuant to the prospectus liability provisions of the Swiss Code of…

Financement intragroupe et Cash Pooling : Quelle évolution ?

Cross-financing between affiliated companies, a subject at the heart of a group’s strategy, is a daily reality that remains largely ignored by current law and jurisprudence. The latest developments in court decisions seem to increase the discrepancy between the economic needs of the group and the legal requirements for protection of capital of each entity. Thus, since the Swisscargo ruling of the…

Das Aktienkapital im Entwurf zur Aktienrechtsrevision

On November 23, 2016, the Federal Council published its proposal for a revised law on companies limited by shares. This article deals with the share capital, one of the key aspects of the proposed revision. First, it addresses the specific characteristic of Swiss law, according to which shares have a nominal value. Second, the article analyzes how the procedures of capital changes are regulated in…

Vorschläge zur Aktienrechtsrevision

On November 23, 2016, the Federal Council published its proposal for a revised law on companies limited by shares. After the proposal was mainly well received it’s ready to take the next step: Since the Legal Affairs Committees decided to enter into the proposal the National Council will probably hold discussions 2017 (Winter Session). This year’s SZW Conference strongly focused on the proposal…

Leuchttürme oder Untiefen?

Sometimes, courts must remain silent for many years on important questions, simply for lack of cases, until we find ourselves suddenly confronted with unexpected decisions. This happened with the possibilities corporations had to deal in their by-laws with blockage situa­tions in the shareholder meeting. The Federal Tribunal overturned last year a decades old rule enabling companies to attribute…

Besserstellung der Revisionsstelle in der aktienrechtlichen Verantwort­lichkeit? – Prozessrechtliche Bemerkungen zu Art. 759 Abs. 2 E-OR

The draft for the revision of the stock corporation law proposes to limit auditor liability. In case the audit firm has merely caused damage by negligence, it shall be liable only up to the amount it would have to pay due to a recourse claim (draft art. 759 (2) CO). The proposal, which dates back to 1983, does not reliably limit auditor liability. This is because art. 148 (3) CO provides that…

Vorbereitung und Durchsetzung von Aktionärsklagen: Wie kann die Informationsasymmetrie überwunden werden?

In order to improve the enforcement of directors’ liability in solvent companies, it is necessary to improve the access of shareholders to information in order to prepare a derivative suit. The Swiss company law revision project of 2016 provides such improvements by lowering the conditions under which a special audit can be appointed by the court (art. 697a seq. CO). However, the applicants…

Kernfragen der Aktienrechtsrevision

On November 23, 2016, the Federal Council published its proposal for a revised law on companies limited by shares. This article deals with four key aspects of the proposed revision. First, it addresses the proposed amendments regar­ding the capital structure. The authors thereby focus on the rules for capital increases, decreases and the possibility to introduce a so called «capital band». Secon…

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…

Aktuelle Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichts zum Aktienrecht

During the last two years the Federal Supreme Court issued over 30 company-law cases. The following article discusses two particularly relevant topics of this remarkably rich jurisprudence. A first section deals with cases in which the court had to assess business decisions (in doctrine also referred to as cases of “business judgment rule”). This section provides an in-depth analysis of the three…

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…

Konzernorganisationsrecht 2.0

The premise of this article is that the law of corporate groups is, in essence, business organisation law. The departure point is the observation that the function of the corporate group relates primarily to the overcoming of entrepreneurial problems that economic globalisation has brought, and continues to bring, forth. In order to do justice to this economic reality, the law must provide the…

Rechtsvergleichende Überlegungen zur Business Judgment Rule

The famous business judgment rule (BJR) that emerged in the US in the early nineteenth century, has been adopted in recent years, in one form or another, by several jurisdictions in Europe. This article provides a comparative analysis of the different models of the BJR and its basic elements and rationales in the US, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The article outlines how the…

Ist die aktienrechtliche Verantwortlichkeit noch zeitgemäss?

An analysis of the board members’ and directors’ liability law shows that its present form has significant deficits: Confronting board members with a liability excee­ding their individual risk capacity causes risk adversity and a crowding out effect within the pool of potential board members. In the light of these functional deficits, it does not come as a surprise that the track record of…

The squeaky wheel gets (all) the grease: Wie weit soll und darf der Verwaltungsrat auf aktive Aktionäre eingehen?

Over the course of this enquiry, we shall examine whether the squeaky wheel does actually get all the grease and what this means for the modern public company. Art. 717 of the Swiss Code of Obligations states that shareholders are to be treated equally under equal conditions. However, said equality is not to be understood in absolute terms but has to be reasonable and justifiable with regard to…

Rückerstattung von Leistungen nach Art. 678 OR

Under the existing law, restitution claims as set out in art. 678 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) have been rarely invoked. Reasons for this are the strict requirements of art. 678 para. 2 CO and, more importantly, deficiencies in the procedural incentive structure. In the present article, controversial issues regarding the existing law are analysed and commented on, followed by a discussion…