Overview
1 What forms of business entities are relevant to the typical
franchisor?
While there is no requirement for a foreign franchisor offering
or selling franchises in Switzerland to form a Swiss corporate
vehicle for this purpose, many do. Franchisors have a variety of
legal forms from which to choose; however, the most common form is
the company limited by shares (AG), followed by the limited
liability company (GmbH). The latter has become more and more
popular in the past few years. The minimum share capital of an AG
amounts to 100,000 Swiss francs divided into shares with a nominal
value of at least 0.01 Swiss francs. Upon incorporation, 20 per
cent of the par value of each share must be paid in in cash, by a
contribution in kind or by a set-off; in all cases the
contributions made must total at least 50,000 Swiss francs. For the
establishment of a GmbH a minimum capital of 20,000 Swiss francs is
required, which must be fully paid in either in cash, by
