On September 15, 2017, the Swiss Government published a revised version of the Swiss Data Protection Act (the "Draft DPA"). The Draft DPA is available here (in French).
On September 20, 2017, OBERSON ABELS organized a webinar to discuss the main features of the Draft DPA and the steps which are to be taken to ensure compliance with the new Swiss data protection rules.
Please click on the following link to watch this webinar. The webinar is in French.
OBERSON ABELS is also preparing a series of Legal Updates on specific aspects of the new Swiss data protection rules. The first Legal Update will be issued on Monday September 25, 2017. Please do not hesitate to send an email to news@obersonabels.com should you wish to be included on our mailing list.
OBERSON ABELS has published a short note (Legal Update) which addresses three recent Swiss legal developments regarding commissions/retrocessions :
1. Civil law : The Swiss Supreme Court has ruled that the statute of limitations applicable to the client's restitution claim is 10 years. This 10-year period starts running as of the day on which the retrocessions are received by the principal (typically a financial intermediary).
2. Criminal law : The payment and receipt of commissions/retrocessions need to be carefully analyzed under the Swiss rules on the (active/passive) private bribery, which have been significantly expanded since July 2016.
3. Corporate law : In November 2016, the Swiss Government proposed an overhaul of Swiss corporate law. The governmental proposal includes a new transparency requirement, whereby Swiss legal entities active in (i) mining, oil and gas extraction and (ii) primary forest logging, would be required to publish a report disclosing all payments made to non-Swiss governments in excess of CHF 100'000 (per accounting year).
Please do not hesitate to send an email to news@obersonabels.com should you wish to obtain a copy of this Legal Update.
OBERSON ABELS has published a short note (Legal Update) concerning the entry into force of the new Swiss Citizenship Act.
The completely overhauled law on Swiss citizenship will enter into force on January 1, 2018. As a rule, conditions to get Swiss citizenship will become stricter.
Those who contemplate filing an application should consider doing so before the end of 2017. Applications filed before this deadline will indeed be handled according to the current legal framework.
Please do not hesitate to send us an email should you wish to obtain a copy of this Legal Update :
Marie-Laure Voyame mvoyame@obersonabels.com Tél. +41 58 258 88 88
Marie-Frédérique Lamy mlamy@obersonabels.com Tél. +41 58 258 88 88
On May 31 and June 1, 2017, OBERSON ABELS held a seminar on the new regulatory framework regarding data protection. Approximately 100 participants took part in this seminar.
The European Union (EU) has significantly strengthened its data protection rules. The Swiss Government published recently a draft revised Swiss Data Protection Act, which aims at adjusting Swiss law to the new EU standards. The new (Swiss/EU) rules will have a significant impact on Swiss enterprises.
The purpose of this seminar was to allow participants to understand the practical implications of the new rules, which will enter into force in 2018 (respectively 2019), but require preparatory work already in 2017. Mr Cyril Pierre-Beausse (www.claw.lu), a well-known expert on the EU data protection rules, also took part in this seminar.
The key implications of this regulatory overhaul have also been discussed in an article published by Antoine Amiguet and Philipp Fischer in the leading Swiss newspaper Le Temps (article available only in French).
On May 29, 2017, the Chairman of the Geneva Bar Association launched a project involving the creation of Specialized Committees.
Each Specialized Committee will regroup the specialists in a given field of law. The purpose of this project is to allow participants to improve their know-how through exchanges of practical experiences and review of upcoming legislative changes. In addition, the collegial relationship among lawyers active in the same field of law is to be fostered. This is, also, in the interest of clients, as it aims at improving the efficient completion of client assignments.
OBERSON ABELS is heavily involved in this project. Stefan Eberhard has been appointed to chair the Specialized Committee on corporate law. Philipp Fischer will chair the Specialized Committee on banking law.
OBERSON ABELS was designated as the best law firm in Switzerland in the field of tax law according to the survey recently published by Le Temps and Bilanz. OBERSON ABELS is also highly regarded for its leading services in commercial law, in particular in the fields of M&A, private equity & venture capital, corporate law and contract law, as well as compliance, banking and capital market.
We are delighted by this acknowledgement at our clients' service !
OBERSON ABELS is very pleased to announce that its Lausanne office has moved to Avenue de la Gare 12A on April 24, 2017
We are looking forward to seeing you in our brand new Lausanne office !
We are pleased to announce that OBERSON ABELS, after only one year of existence, has been recognized as a leading firm in Switzerland for tax, corporate, M&A and banking & finance law by the leading professional directory Chambers.
Several of its partners have been distinguished as leading individuals in their fields: Xavier Oberson, Pierre-Marie Glauser, Frédéric Vuilleumier and Jérôme Meyer for tax law; Sébastien Bettschart and Stefan Eberhard for corporate and M&A; Antoine Amiguet for investment funds. In addition, Philipp Fischer has been recognized as an "Up and Coming Individual" for banking & finance.
Additional information:
www.chambersandpartners.com/Europe/firm/114707/oberson-abels-sa
www.chambersandpartners.com/Global/firm/114707/oberson-abels-sa
Prof. Xavier Oberson has given the opening lecture of the Spring Semester at the University of Geneva.
The development of artificial intelligence has a tremendous impact on all aspects of our daily life and work.
Robots are gradually replacing humans in certain sectors of the industry. This has an impact on the labor market, but also on the related tax and social security revenues.
In parallel, the need for additional state revenues to support the growing number of unemployed human workers increases.
Taxing robots could be a solution. This is the proposal made by Xavier Oberson.
In his view, the creation of an independent legal personality for robots could pave the way for taxing robots. In his presentation, he outlined the fundamental legal, economic and ethical questions raised by this proposal. He also discussed the implementation difficulties which will have to be addressed should such a new tax personality be recognized.
Xavier Oberson is Professor of Swiss and International Tax Law at the University of Geneva and Chairman of OBERSON ABELS. He is also the founder and director of the LL.M. Tax at the University of Geneva.
Her areas of expertise include Swiss and international taxation. She advises both private clients (asset reorganizations, expatriates, lump-sum taxation, taxation of artists and sportsmen) and institutions (restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, employee participation plan). She also specializes in the taxation of second pilar and insurances. Geneviève Page regularly intervenes in the negotiations with the tax authorities and in litigation before the courts.