Fundamental changes to Swiss withholding tax on interest payments
By Maurus Winzap, Fabienne Limacher On 26 June 2019 the Federal Council announced its intentions to resume the temporarily suspended Swiss withholding tax reform and set out the general framework to introduce a paying agent tax system with regard to interest payments. Background In Switzerland, interests from bonds issued by Swiss entities or customer deposits […]
Review of private WhatsApp messages on work mobile phone deemed unlawful
By Jürg Schneider, Noémi Ziegler, Elma Berisha Background In June 2017 a Swiss-based company (the employer) dismissed an employee with immediate effect on the grounds that she had made wrongful use of her work mobile phone by installing WhatsApp and using it for private purposes, thereby infringing the employer’s terms of employment. In particular, she […]
Life Science Law Update – organ donation and access to psychotherapy
Popular initiative “Supporting organ donation – saving lives” The Federal Council supports the proposal of the initiative to allow organs to be removed from a deceased person if he or she did not oppose this during his or her lifetime in principle, but will suggest introducing certain measures in order to safeguard the rights of […]
Adjusted disclosure rules under Swiss corporate law
By Alex Nikitine, Dario Galli, Dimitrios Berger In December 2014, the Swiss Parliament approved the bill and introduced stringent disclosure obligations for shareholders of private companies. The law entered into force in July 2015. Said disclosure regime is commonly referred to as the Swiss «GAFIRules» (originating from the Groupe d’Action Financière, the Financial Action Task […]
Switzerland: National cybersecurity strategy
By Jürg Schneider, Christophe Gösken On 15 May 2019 the Federal Council adopted a plan to implement the national strategy to protect Switzerland against cyber risks (NCS) until 2022 and took additional steps towards the establishment of a cybersecurity competence centre. The implementation plan defines responsibilities within the federal administration and describes the tasks of […]
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Penningtons Manches Cooper records modest growth in pre-merger year
Penningtons Manches Cooper’s revenue has risen to nearly £80m while profits have taken a hit, in the firm’s second year as a member of the UK top 50. Over 2018/19, the firm saw slower growth compared to its previous two financial years, when both revenue and profit saw double-digit growth. Revenue rose 4.5 per cent, […]
The speed read: in-house fluidity; US firm office moves; and a poison pen at Doughty Street
Deep into August and the City is quiet as partners take a well-earned break drinking wine in Provence, sunning themselves on a Greek island or, in the case of one out-of-office reply we received this morning, “sailing round Alaska.” Nevertheless, the news does keep coming… The in-house market has rarely been this fluid The repercussions […]
Magic circle and US firms lead on Hasbro £4bn entertainment deal
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Mayer Brown have advised on US toy maker Hasbro’s £3.3bn ($4bn) acquisition of UK-listed Entertainment One. Canadian media and entertainment company Entertainment One, or eOne, is the owner of film and television titles such as children’s cartoons Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, through its family division. Through its […]
Firms set to lose out as Alibaba postpones its HK capital-raising
The delay in China’s biggest e-commerce company public listing in Hong Kong could see the longstanding advisers for Alibaba lose out on fees for a £16m capital-raising. The Alibaba Group announced early in the week that it would delay its IPO process in Hong Kong due to the protests that have swept the Asian corporate […]
Covington begins search for new London HQ as lease end nears
Covington & Burling is on the hunt for new office space in London as its lease edges closer to an end, The Lawyer understands. According to sources in the market, the US firm has kicked off the search ahead of its lease end in 2021. While no shortlist of potential locations is currently available, the […]
A&O, Linklaters and Weil in line for £12m payout on Cobham’s sale to US PE group
Allen & Overy, Linklaters and Weil Gotshal & Manges are set to scoop nearly £12m for their work on the £4bn takeover of Cobham, one of Britain’s biggest defence and aerospace companies, if the controversial deal goes ahead. US private equity company Advent International offered to buy Cobham, known for its air-to-air refueling technology, at the end […]