On 8 April 2020, the Federal Council affirmed its willingness to offer support for companies in financial difficulties because of the coronavirus crisis. At the same time, the Federal Council decided not to extend the legal standstill in civil and administrative court proceedings and in debt enforcement actions. The legal standstill will end as planned on 19 April 2020 at midnight.
En raison de la situation exceptionnelle liée à la pandémie du coronavirus, le Conseil fédéral a ordonné une suspension temporaire des poursuites. Cette suspension des poursuites aura effet du 19 mars 2020 au 4 avril 2020 et sera immédiatement suivie par les féries de poursuite qui durent du 5 avril au 19 avril 2020. Nous répondrons ci-dessous à quelques questions pratiques sur le droit des poursuites et faillites en temps de crise du coronavirus.
1. Que signifie « suspension des poursuites » ?
On April 16, 2020, the Swiss Federal Council enacted the COVID-19 Insolvency Ordinance. One of its main goals is to relieve pressure on executive bodies of Swiss entities to request the opening of insolvency proceedings. Relief is targeted at overindebtedness situations caused by negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on liquidity, earnings and going-concern prospects. Further, the Swiss Federal Council put in place a special COVID-19 moratorium.
April 2020
138Newsletter No.
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As announced on 9 April 2020, the Swiss Government today adopted measures to prevent a wave of bankruptcies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the heart of the measures is the suspension of the duty to notify the court in the event of over-indebtedness and a new moratorium designed for SMEs (COVID-19 Moratorium).
Newsletter No. 138 April 2020
Introductory remarks
The coronavirus (COVID-19) is currently causing concern and uncertainty and poses challenges to companies and individuals alike. A number of legal issues are also emerging, whether in relation to contractual obligations, labour law matters or corporate law aspects. This article aims to highlight the most important points from a Swiss law perspective and to clarify legal issues in the elaboration of possible courses of action.
1. Commercial contracts
1.1 Force majeure
Um was geht es?
Dieser Artikel beschreibt in Kürze das freiwillige Liquidationsverfahren einer Gesellschaft aufgrund eines Sonderbeschlusses seiner Aktionäre.
Was muss ich tun?
Beschlussfassung der Gesellschafter
As Switzerland maintains a quite strict legal regime governing the director’s liability, it is immanent for each person holding a board function to know the rules and risks as well the legal consequences in this respect. During the last couple of years Switzerland has introduced various new rules influencing the director’s liability (new transparency rules for management compensations in listed companies, a comprehensive revision of the audit legislation and new statutory rules governing financial accounting), which are mainly applicable for listed companies.
Kommt ein Schuldner seinen Verpflichtungen nicht nach, so muss der Gläubiger ein Zwangsvollstreckungsverfahren in die Wege leiten. Dies geschieht in der Regel mit der Einreichung eines Betreibungsbegehrens beim zuständigen Betreibungs- und Konkursamt. Obschon das Stellen eines Betreibungsbegehrens trivial erscheint, führt dies in der Praxis immer wieder zu Rechtsstreitigkeiten, im Rahmen welcher ein - gestützt auf ein fehlerhaft formuliertes Betreibungsbegehren erlassener - Zahlungsbefehl aufgehoben oder gar dessen Nichtigkeit festgestellt wird.