The Legal 500

On March 18 2011 Parliament adopted new legislation through which book prices are to be fixed.

On January 4 2011 the Competition Commission announced that it has launched a preliminary investigation into a cooperation agreement between Swisscom and the city of St Gallen to extend the city's fibre-optic network.

On November 4 2010 the Competition Commission fined four undertakings Sfr7.6 million for entering into agreements on prices with competitors in relation to the distribution of door components (eg, doorknobs, hinges and locks).

On September 15 2010 the Competition Commission opened an investigation into restrictions on online sales of household appliances. The investigation aims to establish whether the restriction of online sales constitutes a violation of competition law and is the commission's first investigation into restrictions on e-commerce.

On October 14 2010 the Competition Commission announced that it had approved the proposed acquisition of Sunrise by CVC Capital Partners from TDC. The preliminary investigation revealed no indications that the proposed concentration could create or strengthen a dominant position in Switzerland. The concentration was cleared after a first-stage assessment, without conditions or commitments.

Personal guarantees under Swiss law

This week Swiss defender Alinghi lost to US challenger BMW Oracle in the 33rd America’s Cup. Earlier, it had been decided that the New York courts trounced arbitration as the forum for deciding disputes related to the contest, concluding two years of legal battles. Are the two outcomes linked and should CAS be used to determine disputes in the future? Laurence Burger of Tavernier Tschanz tells the story.

Country Q&A Switzerland.

The Competition Commission has published its 2008 annual report. According to the commission, 2008 was a year of activities designed to prevent distortions of competition. This update summarizes the activities undertaken by the commission during 2008.

On March 25 2009 the secretariat of the Competition Commission opened a preliminary investigation into Maestro's introduction of an interchange fee for the use of its debit card. The investigation followed a preliminary notification which was filed by Maestro with the commission before it implemented its project.

On May 25 2009 the Competition Commission fined Felco SA and Landi Schweiz AG – two companies active in the industrial cutting tools sector – for retail price fixing. This is the first case in which penalties have been imposed due to the finding of a vertical agreement setting prices for resale, considered by Article 5 of the Competition Act to be particularly harmful to competition.

On June 8 2009 the Competition Commission initiated an investigation into the roadworks market in the cantons of Zurich and Aargau. The subjects of the investigation are undertakings that are active in the roadworks and civil engineering sectors. Following a complaint, the commission discovered evidence which pointed to market sharing in the way that tenders (including tender prices) for roadworks contracts are submitted and suggested that roadworks contracts were being awarded on a rotational basis. The commission has conducted dawn raids as part of the evidence-gathering process.

On May 27 2009 the Competition Commission sent the proposed concentration between Swiss Post, NZZ Group and Tamedia to a second-stage assessment.

On July 6 2009 the Competition Commission fined eight undertakings Sfr1.24 million for collusive tendering in relation to private and public tenders for electrical equipment in construction projects.

On September 17 2009 the Competition Commission approved the proposed concentration between Tamedia and Edipresse after a second-stage assessment. The concentration was cleared without conditions and commitments under the failing firm doctrine.

Under certain legal systems, extraordinary means of judicial review of international arbitration awards are deprived of any suspensive effect. This is the case under Swiss law, where annulment proceedings are granted suspensive effect only upon a party's request and under extremely restricted conditions. In contrast, in other jurisdictions certain extraordinary means of judicial review can have a mandatory suspensive effect, giving rise to speculation as to the immediate enforceability of awards issued in those jurisdictions.

A recent dispute referred to arbitration pertained to a settlement agreement executed on March 29 2006 between Vivendi SA and other telecommunications entities in Switzerland and Poland on one side, and Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile, Elektrim SA and other telecom entities in Switzerland, Poland and Germany on the other.(1) The settlement agreement provided for arbitration pursuant to the International Chamber of Commerce Rules of Arbitration, with the seat of arbitration in Geneva. The Supreme Court's summary report does not specify which law governed the merits of the case.

A recent case before the Swiss courts considered whether the piercing of the corporate veil can be considered (i) grounds for extending arbitration agreements to nonsignatories, or (ii) grounds for disregarding such arbitration agreements.(1)

Corporate Governance and Directors' Duties Handbook in Switzerland, in Cross-border Corporate Governance and Directors' Duties Handbook 2008, 5th ed. to be published in 2008 (Sébastien Bettschart and Edmond Tavernier).