The Swiss trust law has been a long time in the making. Since
the ratification of the Hague Trust Convention in 2007 several
attempts were made by interested parties to come to legislation on
the proper Swiss trust; thus far unsuccessful. However, this may be
(soon) changing.
Background
With the 2007 ratification by Switzerland of the Hague Trust
Convention, for the first time, trusts would be recognised as such
in Switzerland. The chosen law of the trust would be accepted by
Swiss courts. Besides, it was now possible to opt for Swiss
jurisdiction. This was undoubtedly progress for Swiss-based trust
practitioners such as Intertrust.
This did not mean, however, that there was such a
'thing' as the Swiss trust. As early as 2009/2010, attempts
were made by members of parliament to come to a Swiss trust law
(the Law). In 2015 a motion was introduced to review the
possibility of a Law, but again no joy. In 2016 a member of
parliament submitted an initiative promoting
