Start of the consultation on the implementation of the recommendations of the Global Forum

The Federal Council opens consultation on the conversion of bearer shares into registered shares, based on recommendations from the Global Forum.

2018

On January 17, 2018, the Federal Council opened the consultation process for the implementation of the recommendations of the Global Forum. Specifically, the draft law proposes the conversion of bearer shares into registered shares, as well as a sanction system for breaches of duty. The consultation period lasts until April 24, 2018.

The Recommendations

‍The “Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes”, shortly known as Global Forum, strives to ensure that the implementation of international standards for information exchange on request and for automatic information exchange takes place in a uniform manner internationally. To this end, the Global Forum reviews the implementation in participating countries, which occurs in two phases. On June 26, 2016, the report for Phase 2 of Switzerland’s country review was published. This contains various recommendations concerning the transparency of legal entities and the exchange of information.

‍The Draft Law

‍On January 17, 2018, the Federal Council now opened the consultation procedure for the draft law, which is intended to implement these recommendations. Specifically, the conversion of bearer shares into registered shares is proposed as well as a sanction system in case shareholders fail to meet their obligation to report beneficial owners, or if companies violate their obligation to maintain registers of shareholders and beneficial owners. Moreover, the law shall stipulate that authorities and financial intermediaries may access the registers insofar as it serves the fulfillment of their legal duties. Furthermore, the proposed draft law includes provisions concerning the confidentiality of requests for administrative assistance and the legal and procedural capacity of parties from whom information is requested in an administrative assistance procedure.

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