The Legal 500 > Europe, Middle East & Africa > Switzerland

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Browse all firms with extended profiles for Switzerland

Overview

Well known for its stability, Switzerland has multiple distinct business hubs across its 26 cantons. Commercial activity, including corporate, M&A, and capital markets work, is most concentrated around the German-speaking area, with Zurich, Bern, and Basel being key locations. Geneva, in the French-speaking region, has a strong international reputation as a hub for arbitration and private banking matters, and is a key location for many international sports organisations, as well as the World Trade Organisation. The canton of Zug has become a centre for fintech endeavours over recent years, with the proliferation of cryptocurrency and blockchain earning it the moniker ‘Crypto Valley’.

After a brief boom in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, 2022 brought new challenges to Switzerland, with the weight of sanctions, and an impending international energy crisis, drawing pessimistic predictions from many. As such, transaction rates steadily fell, with public M&A transactions and IPOs particularly diminished, with some high-profile deals shelved, awaiting surer economic circumstances. However, the key industries of pharmaceutical and life sciences and banking and finance have remained strong, though both have observed a steady trend of consolidation. The country has passed another year without the materialisation of the now long-anticipated wave of insolvencies and restructurings, and may certainly view this as a key victory.


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