The Floating Charge Is No Longer A Foreign Concept

It is now possible to create a Swiss security over intermediated securities that is similar to a floating charge, although this has yet to be embraced by the market

Switzerland has been a good market for acquisition finance for quite some time, and it seems that interest in acquiring Swiss companies is still growing.

So far this year we have already seen high-profile transactions such as the acquisition of the Swiss Syngenta group by ChemChina. The $43bn deal, once completed, is said to be the biggest Chinese foreign takeover ever. It goes without saying that in any leveraged acquisition finance transaction a good security package is a key component for success.

In general, foreign lenders in Switzerland can expect to obtain security over types of assets such as receivables, real estate and bank accounts, and in a form (assignment or pledge) they are used to seeing in an international context. There is one exception, though. Floating charges, ie a security over