OBERSON ABELS has been recognized, once again, as the Swiss best law firm in Tax law according to the survey recently published by Le Temps and Bilanz. OBERSON ABELS is also well ranked in several other fields such as Commercial law and particularly in Banking and Capital Market, M&A and Corporate law.
The whole OBRSON ABELS team thank you for this recognition !
We are delighted to announce that, on Thursday January 25, 2018, the Geneva Parliament has elected Caroline Goette as Associate Judge (Juge assesseur) of the Geneva First Instance Administrative Court (tax matters).
Caroline Goette passed the bar in 1996 and is admitted to practice before all Swiss courts. She has a working experience of more than ten years at the Geneva Court of Justice (Administrative Chamber).
She advises primarily on the tax aspects of inheritance matters. She is a member of the Specialized Committee on Inheritance Law, which has been set up by the Geneva Bar Association.
In parallel to her activities as lawyer, Caroline Goette participated in the launch of the Swiss-French section of the IFA Swiss WIN (Women in IFA Network). She also took part in a series of events organized by the Career Women's Forum, of which she is a member.
OBERSON ABELS has published a short note (Legal Update) which addresses the practical implications of the new Outsourcing Circular issued by the Swiss financial regulator FINMA.
FINMA has published a revised version of the Outsourcing Circular (which is now referred to as FINMA Circular 2018/3), which will enter into force on April 1st, 2018. This Circular sets forth the requirements which an outsourcing project in the finance and insurance industries must meet in order to be implemented without requiring a specific FINMA approval.
Please do not hesitate to send an email to news@obersonabels.com should you wish to obtain a copy of this Legal Update.
The Vaud Government (Conseil d’Etat) just communicated a very important update for all companies doing business in the canton of Vaud in the sense that the decision has been made that the cantonal corporate tax reform (CIT III VD) would already be implemented on January 1st, 2019.
This cantonal tax reform takes place in the more general context of the corporate income tax reform at federal level (one of the purpose of which is to abolish the special tax regimes, in particular the holding and the mixed cantonal regimes). At its level, the canton of Vaud had adopted measures consisting in particular in a corporate tax rate reduction to 13.79% (cantonal, communal and federal tax), that had been approved by a popular vote of 87% of the cantonal voters.
The entry into force of the cantonal reform was foreseen for January 1, 2019. It is however linked to the federal corporate income tax reform that is currently still in progress at federal level with an uncertain date of entry into force. As you are aware, the initial federal project (federal CIT III) was rejected by a popular vote in February 2017. This project was intending to abolish, as mentioned above, the special tax regimes, and to introduce specific tax measures (e.g. patent box, NID, etc.) to (partially) compensate the end of these tax regimes. It was also providing for financial compensation mechanisms between the Confederation and the cantons. After the popular refusal of the federal CIT III, a new draft law (PF 17) was issued and is currently in discussion at the federal level. As indicated, the legislative timetable of this federal project is not clearly defined yet. Its final content, as well as the date of its entry into force at federal level, are therefore, still uncertain.
In this context, the question was whether the Vaud Government would maintain the entry into force of the Vaud cantonal tax reform on January 1, 2019 or, whether due to the uncertainty at federal level, would recommend to the cantonal parliament to defer the cantonal reform.
This point has now been clarified while the Vaud Government announced today its program for the calendar years 2017 to 2022. The entry into force of the CIT III VD has now been confirmed for January 1, 2019, On this date, the effective ordinary corporate tax rate will be reduced to 13.79%.
This is obviously a very good news for all corporations doing business in the canton of Vaud, irrespective of their mode of taxation (ordinary or special tax regime). Companies with a special tax regime may now envision to waive their privileged tax regime in order to be taxed under the ordinary tax regime at an effective tax rate of 13.79%, as this option may appears to be preferable for them in the international context. If these companies rather elect to keep their privileged tax regime until the entry into force of the federal reform, the Vaud corporate tax reform gives them a clear view on their tax treatment in the near future and this independently of the discussions at federal level.
And of course, the entry into force of the Vaud corporate tax reform in 2019 represents a substantial incentive and improvement of the attractiveness for the canton of Vaud that will offer a competitive corporate tax rate and an improved legal security for corporations taxed in Vaud or who would choose to implement their activities there.
Needless to say, OBERSON ABELS SA would be pleased to discuss this with you or answer any question that you may have.
We are delighted to announce that Dominique Gay, Bénédicte Mariéthoz Comoli, Anne Tissot Benedetto and Alexandra Pillonel have been promoted to Counsel of our firm.
On October 16, Xavier Oberson will take part to TaxCOOP 2017, side event of the Fifteenth Session of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters of the United Nations
The panel he will take part of will provide an overview of the impact of tax competition and discuss developments with regard to the taxation of MNEs, SMEs and individuals, such as policies to attract capital or to offer tax strategies to MNEs or wealthy individuals. Panelists will address facts and evidence, of lack thereof, of a race to the bottom and its potential effects on countries.
To watch live : www.taxcoop-conference.com
On September 15, 2017, the Swiss Government published a revised version of the Swiss Data Protection Act (the "Draft DPA"). The Draft DPA is available here (in French).
On September 20, 2017, OBERSON ABELS organized a webinar to discuss the main features of the Draft DPA and the steps which are to be taken to ensure compliance with the new Swiss data protection rules.
Please click on the following link to watch this webinar. The webinar is in French.
OBERSON ABELS is also preparing a series of Legal Updates on specific aspects of the new Swiss data protection rules. The first Legal Update will be issued on Monday September 25, 2017. Please do not hesitate to send an email to news@obersonabels.com should you wish to be included on our mailing list.
OBERSON ABELS has published a short note (Legal Update) which addresses three recent Swiss legal developments regarding commissions/retrocessions :
1. Civil law : The Swiss Supreme Court has ruled that the statute of limitations applicable to the client's restitution claim is 10 years. This 10-year period starts running as of the day on which the retrocessions are received by the principal (typically a financial intermediary).
2. Criminal law : The payment and receipt of commissions/retrocessions need to be carefully analyzed under the Swiss rules on the (active/passive) private bribery, which have been significantly expanded since July 2016.
3. Corporate law : In November 2016, the Swiss Government proposed an overhaul of Swiss corporate law. The governmental proposal includes a new transparency requirement, whereby Swiss legal entities active in (i) mining, oil and gas extraction and (ii) primary forest logging, would be required to publish a report disclosing all payments made to non-Swiss governments in excess of CHF 100'000 (per accounting year).
Please do not hesitate to send an email to news@obersonabels.com should you wish to obtain a copy of this Legal Update.
OBERSON ABELS has published a short note (Legal Update) concerning the entry into force of the new Swiss Citizenship Act.
The completely overhauled law on Swiss citizenship will enter into force on January 1, 2018. As a rule, conditions to get Swiss citizenship will become stricter.
Those who contemplate filing an application should consider doing so before the end of 2017. Applications filed before this deadline will indeed be handled according to the current legal framework.
Please do not hesitate to send us an email should you wish to obtain a copy of this Legal Update :
Marie-Laure Voyame mvoyame@obersonabels.com Tél. +41 58 258 88 88
Marie-Frédérique Lamy mlamy@obersonabels.com Tél. +41 58 258 88 88
On May 31 and June 1, 2017, OBERSON ABELS held a seminar on the new regulatory framework regarding data protection. Approximately 100 participants took part in this seminar.
The European Union (EU) has significantly strengthened its data protection rules. The Swiss Government published recently a draft revised Swiss Data Protection Act, which aims at adjusting Swiss law to the new EU standards. The new (Swiss/EU) rules will have a significant impact on Swiss enterprises.
The purpose of this seminar was to allow participants to understand the practical implications of the new rules, which will enter into force in 2018 (respectively 2019), but require preparatory work already in 2017. Mr Cyril Pierre-Beausse (www.claw.lu), a well-known expert on the EU data protection rules, also took part in this seminar.
The key implications of this regulatory overhaul have also been discussed in an article published by Antoine Amiguet and Philipp Fischer in the leading Swiss newspaper Le Temps (article available only in French).