Mini-Roundtable: Competition And Antitrust

Switzerland's latest cartel law reform introduces significant changes to competition assessment methodology and merger control procedures. While the reform modernizes merger review by adopting the SIEC test, it simultaneously creates a paradox by potentially diverging from EU standards in how agreements between undertakings are evaluated, raising questions about the balance between effects-based analysis and legal certainty.

Switzerland's Federal Council has opened consultation on the Investment Screening Ordinance, which establishes the implementing provisions for the Swiss Federal Act on the Review of Foreign Investments adopted in December 2025. The ordinance details approval requirements, procedures, and exemptions for foreign state-controlled acquisitions of Swiss companies in critical sectors, while introducing anti-circumvention measures and a fee structure ranging from CHF 5,000 to CHF 60,000.

Im Fall Engadin I hatten mehrere Bauunternehmen u.a. von 2008 bis 2012 verschiedene Submissionsabreden getroffen. Die Wettbewerbskommission (WEKO) und das Bundesverwaltungsgericht hatten entschieden, dass hier nicht nur einzelne Submissionsabreden sondern eine projektübergreifende Gesamtabrede vorlag, die diese einzelnen Abreden überwölbte.

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Following the adoption of the revised Cartel Act in December 2025 (see Insight of 5 December 2026), on 20 May 2026 the Swiss Federal Council adopted its long-awaited proposal for significant institutional and procedural reforms to Swiss competition law enforcement.

When did you last review your standard terms and conditions? If you can’t remember, now is the time. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has made unfair contract terms a top enforcement priority...

Au cours des dernières décennies, l’internationalisation et la commercialisation croissantes des compétitions de football professionnel ont attiré un nombre grandissant d’investisseurs cherchant à acquérir des participations dans des clubs de football

In den letzten Jahrzehnten hat die zunehmende Interna- tionalisierung und Kommerzialisierung des professio- nellen Fussballs eine wachsende Zahl von Investoren angezogen, die Beteiligungen an Fussballclubs erwerben wollen.

In today's final vote, the Swiss Parliament voted in favour of the partial revision of the Cartel Act.

The Swiss Parliament is set to introduce a limited-scope foreign direct investment (FDI) regime. The regime will only cover acquisitions of control by foreign state investors over Swiss entities active in specific sectors.

Herr Zurkinden, 2019 haben Sie für das Parlament zwei Gutachten zum damaligen Rahmenabkommen mit der EU verfasst. Ihr Fazit fiel sehr negativ aus.

Switzerland is one of the ten countries with the highest proportion of direct investments abroad worldwide. Investments are only made after careful consideration...

The global pandemic has firmly thrust the Swiss litigation scene into the 21st century. In future, if things go according to the government's plans, Swiss resident witnesses will soon be able...

Der vorliegende Beitrag befasst sich mit der materiell- und prozessrechtlichen Rechtsstellung des Geschädigten, wenn dieser (z.B. aufgrund eines zahlungsunfähigen Schädigers) gegen den...

Swiss competition law is primarily governed by the Federal Law on Cartels and other Restraints of Competition (LCart).2 The LCart is primarily enforced by the Competition Commission...

Revising Switzerland's company law was discussed for many years until, in June 2020, the Swiss parliament finally approved a comprehensive revision of the law.

The threat posed by cyberattacks has increased significantly in the last few years. This is shown by a recently published survey by the industry association Swissmem, according to which 70 percent...

The "Internet of Things" (IoT) causes our private life to increasingly become part of the Internet.

Since 2001, Switzerland has regulated medical devices in the same way as the EU. The former EU Directives on classical medical devices (93/42/EEC), ...

From the Middle Ages until the middle of the 19th century, succession was governed by the so-called right of primogeniture.