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
Tax treatment in the hands of the creditor
In Sweden, debt is typically waived through either judicial settlement (Sw. offentligt ackord) (which will not be discussed here) or through private settlement (Sw. underhandsackord) between creditor and debtor.
As many of you know, on December 19, 2011, Saab Automobile AB and affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy in Sweden. The company issued a bulletin to its dealers that same day, announcing that it immediately suspended processing and payment of all claims, and it is suspending warranty coverage on all new Saab vehicles. What does this mean for dealers? Every dealer’s situation is different, and each dealer will have to evaluate its own circumstances based on consultation with an attorney.
In a recent case from the Swedish Supreme Court, case no Ö 4631-11, jurisdictional matters in terms of competence of Swedish courts were considered. The case involved a creditor’s recovery claims in a bankruptcy, in which the assets requested to be recovered consisted of Swedish and foreign patents that had previously been assigned under an agreement in 2004 to a foreign company located in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
In a recent case (T 5911-15) the Supreme Court clarified how to interpret joint and several liability when the creditor settles with one of the debtors and simultaneously releases that party from any future claims.
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.