The Securities Litigation Review - Switzerland

I OVERVIEW

i Sources of law

In Switzerland, there is no single body of law setting out the law of securities. The substantive law regulating securities is codified in the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO).² Three sections of the CO are of special relevance when dealing with securities: the provisions on companies limited by shares in Article 620 et seq. CO, dealing with equity securities; the provisions regarding negotiable securities (which may include both equity and debt) in Article 965 et seq. CO; and the provisions regarding debt securities issued as bonds in Article 1156 et seq. CO. The procedure for civil litigation is set out in the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC).³ In cases involving foreign parties, international private law comes into play, especially the Lugano Convention (LC)⁴ (applicable in cases involving parties from most European countries) and the Federal Statute on Private International Law (PIL)⁵ (applicable in cases involving parties from