The Swiss government presented a draft bill in May 2017 which was approved by the Swiss Council of States in December 2017 with very few amendments. The revised law could be effective as from 1 January 2019 if the Swiss National Council approves the revision this year.
Key changes include:
On 16 March 2018, the Swiss Parliament adopted the revision of the international insolvency provisions of the Swiss Private International Law Act ("PILA"). Such revision particularly aims at simplifying the recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings in Switzerland which shall lead to a reduction of costs and improved efficiency. The revised PILA is now subject to an optional referendum.
April 2018
121Newsletter No.
Although implementation period of Swiss contractual stay requirements ends, FINMA accepts partial conversion for a limited time under certain conditions: FINMA has announced on 21 March 2018 that for a limited period until 1 January 2019 for contracts with domestic and foreign banks and securities dealers and until 1 July 2019 for counterparties other than banks and securities dealers to accept if banks forego declaring a trade stop in order to achieve full compliance with the Swiss contractual stay requirements.
Insolvency and international cooperation in insolvency matters have been subject to recent developments, particularly in the European Union but also internationally, as mandated by the UNCITRAL. Switzerland however, did not participate in these modernization processes, except in the banking field. Switzerland has now adopted modern and competitive regulations, thereby unifying the entire applicable legislative system.
1 GENERALITIES
48 IFLR/May 2015 www.iflr.com The collapse in 2001 of Switzerland’s national airline Swissair, until then regarded as a symbol of the country’s reliability and efficiency, sparked a debate over the need to amend Swiss insolvency laws. Criticism was raised that the Swiss Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (DEBL) had proven ineffective in facilitating the restructuring of companies in distress and was not adequate to deal with the insolvencies of large groups of companies.
Licences – whether relating to technologies, trademarks, images, audiovisual materials or software – are increasingly important corporate assets. The insolvency of a licensor or licensee can have diverse implications for the fate of those assets, depending on factors such as place of jurisdiction, applicable law, the insolvency mechanisms available and their effect on such agreements.
What effect does a licensor filing for insolvency have on a licence?
On October 14 2015 the Federal Council published a revision project for the Private International Law Act regarding the recognition and coordination of foreign bankruptcy proceedings in Switzerland.
A foreign insolvency decree can be recognised in Switzerland, at request of the foreign liquidator or a creditor, only if:
1. Applicable Law
1.1.1 On 1 January 2011 Switzerland faced the dawn of a new era in litigation. Due to its federal state structure, until this date civil procedural law was regulated on a cantonal level with 26 civil procedure codes. Since 1 January 2011, the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC) replaces the cantonal codes.
1.1.2 Interim measures are mainly governed by the CPC. In order to determine whether provisions other than the CPC are (also) applicable to an interim measure, the applicant has to check two issues: