The (de facto) end of the bearer share
On 21 June 2019, Parliament adopted the new Federal Act on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. The transparency regulations for bearer shares will thus become even stricter after Switzerland implemented the recommendations of the Groupe d'action financière (GAFI) back in 2015 (creation of a bearer share register and reporting obligation for the beneficial owner).
The new law is expected to enter into force at the beginning of 2020 and will require action by the boards of directors of stock corporations with bearer shares, but also by the bearer shareholders themselves. Creditors whose claims are secured by bearer shares (pledge of securities) are affected indirectly.
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Legal Aspects of Applied Data Science
As many businesses become more and more data-driven, the application of computational data science to contemporary business problems continues to gain in importance. Michael Widmer has recently contributed the chapter “Legal Aspects of Applied Data Science” to the recently published book “Applied Data Science – Lessons Learned for the Data-Driven Business”. His chapter and further information is available under https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783030118204
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GDPR - Status after one year
The GDPR has been applicable for just over a year by now. What has happened this year and where is data protection in the EU standing today? The SRF editors asked themselves this question and interviewed Kaj Seidl-Nussbaumer about it.
Link to SRF Espresso:
Link to the article:
https://www.srf.ch/news/international/datenschutz-grundverordnung-papiertiger-oder-bruellender-loewe
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Michael Widmer ranked in WTR 1000
Michael Widmer has been ranked as a trademark lawyer in „The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals 2019“. He is recommended for his work in trademark prosecution and strategy as well as enforcement and litigation. The ranking describes Michael Widmer as “an intelligent, quick and effective advocate” and “a successful negotiator” who is “equally adept at transactional and contentious matters”. We thank our customers for this sign of trust and are very pleased about it.
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Publicity of tax registers
The latest publication, "Steuerinformationen", prepared by the Federal Tax Administration and published by the Swiss Tax Conference (SSK), presents in tabular form the current cantonal regulations regarding the publicity of tax registers.
Only in the cantons of Fribourg and Neuchâtel is there a public edition of the tax factors (limited to 60 days in the canton of FR).
Heralds of corporate tax reform: Abolition of principal companies and the Swiss Finance Branch from 2019
According to a communication from the Federal Tax Administration dated 15 November 2018, the abolition of the privileged taxation regimes of principal companies and the Swiss Finance Branch is already imminent in view of the planned corporate tax reform. As of next year, these special forms of taxation, which are not based on an (explicit) legal basis, will no longer be available.
Proposed new legislation on auditors' liability: reallocation of liability risks?
In the current issue of the journal Expert Focus Dr. Christoph D. Studer and Dr. Oliver Fritschi comment on the proposed amendment of the law concerning auditors' liability. Although auditors are rarely the main responsible if damages occur, they regularly have to pay the bulk of the compensation in liability proceedings. The majority of experts consider it inappropriate that the controlling body of a company thus becomes the de facto guarantor of default for insolvent board members. According to the authors, the revision project may be suitable for alleviating this problem.
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Sports lawyer Roy Levy on Swiss national TV
On 25 June 2018 the Swiss national TV interviewed our sports lawyer Roy Levy on FIFA’s verdict to impose a fine on the Swiss football players Xhaka, Shaqiri and Lichtsteiner for showing the double-eagle during the World Cup match against Serbia.
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