15.01.2020

Stock corporation law reform nearing completion

On 19 December 2019, the Swiss National Council discussed the reform of stock corporation law for a second time, dealing in particular with the topics in which differences remained between the National Council and the Council of States.

This heralds the final round of the reform, which began in 2007 with a Federal Council draft, and was later severely impacted by the initiative “Against Fat-Cat Salaries” (Abzocker-Initiative). The task now is for the Councils to reach agreement on the outstanding points. While the differences are numerous (as the National Council has stubbornly stuck to most of its positions and has only made minor concessions to the Council of States) only a few fundamental issues remain.

It is now clear which innovations in stock corporation law are definitely to be expected. It is, however, also clear which questions are still open and finally, what topics will definitely not be subject of this reform, even though they may be worthy of discussion.