Latest updates

Greater or Different Award to be Set Aside as Ultra Petita

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 17 March 1999

Arbitrators' Independence

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 28 June 1999

Validity of Arbitration Clauses

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 27 August 1999

An arbitration clause can be severed along with the main contract. However, if the main contract was interrupted due to reasons such as fraud of negligence, then arbitration is still a valid way of settling the dispute.

Appointing an Arbitrator

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 27 August 1999

While it is impossible to appeal against a court’s appointment of an arbitrator, a refusal to appoint one may be challenged.

The Supreme Court has Exclusive Jurisdiction to Entertain Applications to Revise International Arbitral Awards, whether Interim or Final

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 27 August 1999

Location, Location, Location

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 27 August 1999

If a court ruling is objected to in favour of arbitration, the depth of investigation into jurisdiction depends entirely on the location of the dispute.

No Appeal Against Court

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 27 August 1999

If the parties in a case being arbitrated in Switzerland cannot settle on a procedure for the challenge, then such a decision falls to the Swiss Supreme Court – against which there is no appeal.

Arbitrators Sitting in Switzerland are not Bound by Foreign Court Decision on Jurisdiction

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 27 August 1999

Modification of the Federal Banking Statute - International Banks Supervision

• Banking & Financial Services
• Switzerland
• 27 October 1999

1998 Annual Report of the Swiss Federal Banking Commission - Liquidation of Financial Intermediaries

• Banking & Financial Services
• Switzerland
• 27 October 1999

New Rules on Evidence in International Arbitration

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 07 February 2000

The International Bar Association has adopted new rules that will create a new uniformity of approach in arbitral proceedings.

Banking Commission Acts to Protect Client Data

• Banking & Financial Services
• Switzerland
• 22 March 2000

The Swiss Federal Banking Commission has issued new regulations which deal with the outsourcing of banking activity and the requirements of Swiss banking secrecy and data protection rules.

Committee Reports on the Search for Holocaust Victims' Assets

• Banking & Financial Services
• Switzerland
• 29 March 2000

Over the last two years the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons has searched Swiss banks for the unclaimed assets of Holocaust victims. The Swiss Federal Banking Commission which supervised the process, has recently commented on its findings.

Failure to Hear Evidence

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 09 June 2000

The Supreme Court recently held that the right to be heard is not violated by arbitrators who refuse to draw inferences from a party's refusal to produce evidence. Also, if a party does not raise a procedural objection immediately, the right to do so is waived.

Pension Fund Investment Possibilities Expanded

• Banking & Financial Services
• Switzerland
• 23 June 2000

Pension fund investments in Switzerland are governed by the Ordinance on Occupational Retirement, Survivors' and Disability Pension Plans. Its provisions concerning security and spreading of risks, indirect placements and permissible investments have recently been modified to account for the development of the financial markets.

Banks May Guarantee High Levels of Privacy Protection

• Banking & Financial Services
• Switzerland
• 30 June 2000

The Swiss Bankers' Association (SBA) is satisfied with the content of a report on improving access to bank information for tax purposes. Since the Swiss legal system conforms entirely with the report’s recommendations, the SBA sees no need to make any changes that would affect the protection of the individual privacy of bank customers in Switzerland.

Costs in Awards Denying Jurisdiction

• Arbitration & ADR
• Switzerland
• 17 August 2000

An ad hoc arbitration tribunal sitting in Geneva, Switzerland, recently found that it had jurisdiction to award the costs of arbitration, while at the same time dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction. This update considers the implications of this decision.

Swiss Bankers Association's Portfolio Management Guidelines are Modified

• Banking & Financial Services
• Switzerland
• 08 September 2000

On July 24 2000 the Swiss Bankers Association's board of directors approved a revision of the association's Portfolio Management Guidelines of April 1996. The amended guidelines came into force on August 1 2000. This update describes the main modifications.

Banks Push for Stamp Duty Exemptions

• Banking & Financial Services
• Switzerland
• 03 November 2000

A new revision of the Swiss stamp duty regulation is one of a series of measures intended to increase the competitiveness of the Swiss financial market. Parliament is expected to adopt it quickly due to pressure from the Swiss Stock Exchange and the Swiss banks.

Creating a New Landscape for Financial Services

• Private Client & Offshore Services
• Bahamas
• 30 November 2000

New Securities Industry Regulations were promulgated in July and have proved to be of interest to international securities firms that market their securities and proprietary systems to private clients and institutional investors in the Bahamas. For the first time in Bahamian legal history, restrictions have been placed on their activities.