Increased transparency for minority shareholders

After the National Council, this autumn also the Council of States had to make a statement on the proposals with regard to the shareholder rights as part of the current revision of the corporation law. It adopted a number of provisions designed to strengthen shareholders' right to information and at the same time improve corporate governance.

Our colleagues from SwissLegal in Lausanne (Attorneys-at-law Olivier Francioli and Nicolas Rouiller) point out how much transparency shareholders may expect under the new corporation law i.e. in comparison with today's law and to what extent this will be possible.

Please find attached the full article in French (published in "FOCUS Recht 2019", supplement to BILAN of 18 September 2019).

Article BILAN, p. 4 (163 KB), pdf

Increased transparency for minority shareholders

Update

28 Aug 2026

The Swiss Transparency Register Is Coming: What SMEs Should Do Now to Prepare

On October 1, 2026, the revised Anti-Money Laundering Act and the new Federal Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities and the Identification of Beneficial Owners—the TJPG for short—will take effect. The transparency register is legally governed by the TJPG and maintained by the Federal Office of Justice. This change by no means affects only banks or other financial intermediaries. In the future, the majority of Swiss stock corporations, limited liability companies, and cooperatives will be required to identify, verify, and document their beneficial owners and report them to the new registry.