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Latest documents

• The super-rich who move for tax, and then move again

  [Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.] The irony was almost perfect: super-rich people who fled from one country for Switzerland due to tax, threatened to leave Switzerland due to tax. “I think many will move,” said Kjartan Aas, a Norwegian millionaire...

• Swiss voters reject proposed tax on super rich

  [Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.] Switzerland on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected a proposed 50% tax on inherited fortunes of 50 million Swiss francs ($62 million) or more, with 78% of votes against the plan, an outcome that even exceeded the two‑thirds...

• Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Mutual Recognition Agreement) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025 published

  On 31 October 2025, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Mutual Recognition Agreement) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1145) were published on legislation.gov.uk, together with an explanatory memorandum. Background The Regulations, made on 30 October 2025, will make changes to UK legislation to implement the UK’s commitments under the Berne Financial Services Agreement; the financial...

• Swiss scientists test berries for bacteria

  There is a low rate of bacterial contamination in frozen berries, according to a study in Switzerland. However, researchers warned that such products may pose a risk if they are consumed without a heating step and not immediately after thawing. From November 2024 to January 2025, 100 frozen berry samples from eight retailers in Zurich...

• Global firm HFW challenges Switzerland in US$5 billion class action over Credit Suisse collapse

  Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders engaged the firm to initiate an investor state treaty arbitration

• The OTC Derivatives Risk Mitigation and Central Counterparties (Equivalence) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025

  On 21 July 2025, the OTC Derivatives Risk Mitigation and Central Counterparties (Equivalence) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025 were laid before Parliament. An explanatory memorandum has also been published. These Regulations come into force on 1 January 2026 and set out HM Treasury’s determinations that Switzerland’s regulatory and supervisory regimes for risk mitigation for over-the-counter derivative contracts...

• Draft – The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Mutual Recognition Agreement) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025

  On 21 July 2025, a draft of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Mutual Recognition Agreement) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025 were published together with a draft explanatory memorandum. When finalised these Regulations will come into force on 1 January 2026 and make changes to UK legislation to implement the UK’s commitments in the Agreement between...

• Swiss agency reports rise in infections and 43 outbreaks

  Reports of most major pathogens increased in Switzerland in 2024 and the country continued to battle a serious Listeria outbreak. The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) reported that Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli infections went up but Listeria cases declined. Campylobacteriosis remained the top recorded infection in humans. A total of 8,280 laboratory-confirmed...

• Inheritance tax referendum spooks Swiss super-rich

  Switzerland is facing backlash from lawyers and bankers over a proposed 50% federal inheritance tax on gifts and estates worth more than Sfr5o million ($61 million), which will go to a nationwide referendum in November. The initiative, launched by the…

• SEC to Resume Processing of Registration Applications From Swiss-Based Investment Advisers

  The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it will immediately resume processing new and pending registration applications of investment advisers with their principal office and place of business in Switzerland.  This… More information at SECLaw.com Read the Full Press Release Have a securities law question? Call New York Securities Lawyers at 212-509-6544.

Featured documents

• An Asset Search In Switzerland

  A former Criminal Intelligence Specialist at Scotland Yard confirmed that the divorcing husband was hiding millions from his wife by using bank accounts in Switzerland.  The husband’s true beneficial ownership of these funds had been concealed by a nominee (i.e. intermediary).  This nominee had...

• Recovering Assets By Shifting Burdens Of Proof

  Kleptocrats hiding assets in Swiss banks and investors subject to clawback claims in the U.S., may have something in common. Each could conceivably bear the evidentiary burden of proof in asset recovery cases brought against them. The Swiss Restitution Of Illicit Assets Act (“RIAA”) for example,...

• Kathryn Keneally talks about taxes and offshore accounts

  “We are looking at the whole world—and still looking at Switzerland,” Kathryn Keneally, assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice Tax Division, told a crowded house at a Q&A session Friday, June 21, at the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting. Keneally talked about the goings-on...

• Switzerland Announces Continuation of Action Plan for Synthetic Nanomaterials

  The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) announced on December 17, 2014, that the Federal Council decided to continue the action plan for synthetic nanomaterials until 2019.  The objectives of the action plan include: Development of regulatory framework conditions for the responsible handling of...

• Steptoe joins the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC)

  The Bitfury Group, the leading global full-service Blockchain technology company, in conjunction with Steptoe & Johnson LLP, issued a press release today that Steptoe will serve as the legal services partner of the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC). Jason Weinstein was also listed as one of ...

• The Food and Drug Administration Seeks Public Comment on Cannabis

  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an announcement seeking public comment on the “abuse potential, actual abuse, medical usefulness, trafficking, and impact of scheduling changes on availability for medical use” of cannabis and several other substances now under international review. ...

• U.S. Sanctions Russian Oil Brokerage Firm, Rosneft, Over Venezuelan Oil Exports

  Today, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Rosneft Trading S.A., a Switzerland-based subsidiary of Russian state-controlled global energy company Rosneft Oil, and its president and board executive Didier Casimiro.  Specifically, OFAC...

• Swiss Voters Approve Burka Ban

  SwissInfo reports that voters in Switzerland yesterday approved, by a narrow majority, a constitutional amendment that would ban wearing of the burka in public places: A decade after another national vote that banned the building of minarets, Switzerland will introduce a clause in its constitution...

• OECD Accepting Comment on Draft Study Report on Applicability of the Key Event Based TG 442D for In Vitro Skin Sensitisation Testing of Nanomaterials

  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published for comment a draft study report entitled “Applicability of the key event based TG 442D for in vitro skin sensitisation testing of nanomaterials.” Switzerland conducted experimental work with selected nanomaterials using ...

• Guest Post: Switzerland: D&O Coverage Following Criminal Investigations

  In the following guest post, Daniele Favalli and Alessio Zolpi take a look at the availability of D&O insurance in connection with criminal proceedings in Switzerland. Daniele is an attorney admitted to the Zurich bar. He is a partner and co-head of the Dispute Resolution Team of the Zurich-based...