After publishing a very comprehensive report on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain in last December, the Federal Council initiated during its meeting on 22 March 2019 the next step by a public consultation on the adaptation of specific federal law provisions to developments in DLT and blockchain. This further underlines the emphasis of the Federal Council on creating the best possible framework to allow Switzerland to establish itself as a leading, innovative and sustainable location for fintech and DLT companies.

Introduction

On 8 March 2019 the Federal Council initiated a consultation on a partial revision of the Banking Act, in particular regarding the:

Introduction

On 23 November 2016 the Federal Council presented a bill to modernise Swiss company law, including a reform of the corporate restructuring rules which sought to create incentives for financially distressed companies to take necessary actions at an early stage and thus avoid insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings.

After publishing a very comprehensive report on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain in last December, the Federal Council initiated during its meeting on 22 March 2019 the next step by a public consultation on the adaptation of specific federal law provisions to developments in DLT and blockchain. This further underlines the emphasis of the Federal Council on creating the best possible framework to allow Switzerland to establish itself as a leading, innovative and sustainable location for fintech and DLT companies.

Der Bundesrat ist bestrebt, die Schweiz auf die digitale Zukunft vorzubereiten, wozu insbesondere Anpassungen der Rechtsordnung an die aufstrebende Blockchain und Distributed Ledger Technologie (DLT) gehören. Auf die Veröffentlichung eines umfassenden Berichts zu dieser Thematik im Dezember 2018 folgte am 22. März 2019 eine Vernehmlassungsvorlage mit dem Titel „Anpassung des Bundesrechts an Entwicklungen der Technik verteilter elektronischer Register“. Darin schlägt der Bundesrat die Anpassung verschiedener Gesetze vor, u.a.

Die Digitalisierung ist eine die wichtigsten Treiber von Innovation und von entscheidender Bedeutung für die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Schweizer Volkswirtschaft. Zu den vielversprechendsten Entwicklungen gehört die Distributed Ledger Technologie (DLT).

Der Bundesrat hat im März 2019 die Vernehmlassung zur Anpassung des Bundesrechts an die Entwicklungen der DLT eingeleitet und einen vorläufigen legislativen Vorschlag für ein neues Bundesgesetz zur Änderung von Bundesgesetzen im Lichte der Entwicklungen zur DLT ("Vernehmlassungsentwurf") sowie einen erläuternden Bericht vorgelegt.

Introduction

What is it all about?

This article briefly describes the liquidation procedure of a company based on a voluntary winding up upon special resolution by its shareholders.

What do I have to do?

Shareholders resolution

The Swiss court in Zug, the Handelsblatt, Trado GmbH, Bloomberg and a shareholder of Envion AG have now confirmed that the bankruptcy court of Zug decided to liquidate Envion AG on 14 November 2018.

As already reported, the reason for initiating liquidation was that Envion AG did not appoint an auditor within the time limit set by the court. Envion AG therefore suffers from a so-called "lack of organs" which, according to Swiss law, leads to the liquidation of the company in the absence of remedy.

Cross-border insolvencies are often complicated and time-consuming. In the regulated financial sector, significant efforts have already been made in Switzerland and internationally to streamline these processes and to facilitate cooperation between the relevant authorities across jurisdictions. Forthcoming changes to the Swiss Law on Private International Law (PILA) seek to modernise the general regime applicable in Switzerland to cross-border insolvencies outside of the regulated financial sector. The revised rules are expected to enter into force at some point in 2019.