{"id":5654,"date":"2022-08-10T10:39:05","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T09:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/?p=5654"},"modified":"2022-08-10T11:31:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T10:31:47","slug":"bundesrat-publiziert-vorentwurf-fuer-schweizer-investitionskontrolle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/news-insights\/bundesrat-publiziert-vorentwurf-fuer-schweizer-investitionskontrolle\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Council publishes Preliminary Draft Regulation for Swiss Investment Control"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5654\" class=\"elementor elementor-5654\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5e192929 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"16275\" data-id=\"5e192929\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-328c9e8\" data-eae-slider=\"20016\" data-id=\"328c9e8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1457845 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1457845\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"825\" height=\"495\" src=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Introduction-of-Swiss-Investment-Control-Federal-Council-publishes-Preliminary-Draft-Regulation.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-5656\" alt=\"Einf\u00fchrung einer Schweizer Investitionskontrolle - Bundesrat publiziert Vorentwurf des Gesetzes\" srcset=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Introduction-of-Swiss-Investment-Control-Federal-Council-publishes-Preliminary-Draft-Regulation.jpg 825w, https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Introduction-of-Swiss-Investment-Control-Federal-Council-publishes-Preliminary-Draft-Regulation-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Introduction-of-Swiss-Investment-Control-Federal-Council-publishes-Preliminary-Draft-Regulation-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Introduction-of-Swiss-Investment-Control-Federal-Council-publishes-Preliminary-Draft-Regulation-18x12.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a76e28a\" data-eae-slider=\"63962\" data-id=\"a76e28a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-99081b4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"99081b4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Federal Council publishes Preliminary Draft Regulation for Swiss Investment Control<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f29e2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"5f29e2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-685ec73 elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"about\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-tags\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-terms\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-post-info__terms-list\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-post-info__terms-list-item\">News<\/span>, <span class=\"elementor-post-info__terms-list-item\">Regulatory<\/span>\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-d50ae70 elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-calendar\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>10.08.2022<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-ec6c601 elementor-inline-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-user-circle\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-custom\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMario Strebel, Fabian Koch\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d17332b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4d17332b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-no-translation=\"\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<style>.elementor-element-4d17332b{display:none !important}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e6fdab6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e6fdab6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-no-translation=\"\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<style>.elementor-element-e6fdab6{display:none !important}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0bcb7c3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0bcb7c3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-no-translation=\"\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>On 18\u00a0May\u00a02022, the Swiss Federal Council opened the consultation process for a new Federal Act on Foreign Direct Investment Control. It is proposed to introduce a notification and approval requirement for certain takeovers of domestic undertakings. The focus is on state-owned and state-related foreign investors. However, in certain particularly security-relevant sectors, private investors may also be subject to the notification and approval requirement. This article provides an overview of the most important provisions of the Preliminary Draft of the Federal Act on Foreign Direct Investment Control, followed by a brief appraisal and an outlook. The consultation ends on 9\u00a0September\u00a02022. <\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Initial situation<\/strong><\/p><p>Switzerland is one of the world&#8217;s largest recipients of direct investment in terms of capital stock (over CHF\u00a01,200\u00a0billion in 2020 according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snb.ch\/en\/mmr\/reference\/Direktinvestitionen_2020\/source\/Direktinvestitionen_2020_12.en.pdf\">Swiss National Bank<\/a>). This is due in particular to the attractiveness of Switzerland as a business location, but also to an open policy towards foreign investment. Switzerland does not yet have an investment control system, i.e. a procedure for the systematic review of foreign investment projects in domestic undertakings, as has now been introduced in numerous larger economies.<\/p><p>In February\u00a02019, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.admin.ch\/gov\/en\/start.html\">Federal Council<\/a> opposed the introduction of investment controls in its report on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seco.admin.ch\/seco\/en\/home\/Aussenwirtschaftspolitik_Wirtschaftliche_Zusammenarbeit\/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen\/Internationale_Investitionen\/Auslandsinvestitionen\/Investitionskontrollen.html\">Cross-border Investments and Investment Controls<\/a>, arguing that the overall cost-benefit <em>ratio<\/em> was unfavourable and that the existing legal foundations already addressed any risks. With the adoption of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parlament.ch\/en\/ratsbetrieb\/suche-curia-vista\/geschaeft?AffairId=20183021\">Rieder Motion &#171;Protection of the Swiss economy through investment controls<\/a>&#187; (18.3021) the Federal Council was nevertheless instructed by the Swiss Parliament in March\u00a02020 to draft the legal basis for a Swiss investment control regime. On 25\u00a0August\u00a02021, the Federal Council already presented the key principles for a corresponding act in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.admin.ch\/gov\/de\/start\/dokumentation\/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-84838.html\">media release<\/a> (see our article <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/news-insights\/einfuehrung-einer-schweizer-investitionskontrolle-bundesrat-legt-eckwerte-fest\/\">here<\/a>).<\/p><p>On 18\u00a0May\u00a02022, it opened the consultation on the Preliminary Draft of the Federal Act on Foreign Direct Investment Control (<strong>Preliminary Draft <\/strong>or <strong>PD-FDI<\/strong>), which it published together with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsd.admin.ch\/newsd\/message\/attachments\/71560.pdf\">Explanatory Report<\/a> and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsd.admin.ch\/newsd\/message\/attachments\/71561.pdf\">Regulatory Impact Assessment<\/a>. Due to the unchanged initial situation, the Federal Council is still opposed to the introduction of an investment control.<\/p><p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>The most important provisions of the Preliminary Draft at a glance<\/strong><\/p><p><em>Introduction of a notification and approval requirement <\/em><\/p><p>The<strong> purpose <\/strong>of the PD-FDI is to prevent takeovers of domestic undertakings by foreign investors that endanger or threaten the public order or security of Switzerland (art.\u00a01 PD-FDI). To this end, the Preliminary Draft provides for a <strong>notification and approval requirement <\/strong>for certain takeovers by foreign investors <strong><em>prior to <\/em>their closing<\/strong>.<\/p><p><em>Notification thresholds (pick-up criteria) <\/em><\/p><p>Apart from takeovers within the <em>de\u00a0minimis<\/em> threshold pursuant to art.\u00a04 para.\u00a02 PD-FDI, the notification and approval requirement applies to all takeovers of domestic undertakings by <strong>state-owned <\/strong>or <strong>state-related foreign investors<\/strong>, i.e. investors that are directly or indirectly controlled by a state body (art.\u00a04 para.\u00a01 lit.\u00a0a PD-FDI). These are the focus of the planned investment control.<\/p><p>In addition, in particularly security-relevant sectors, takeovers by <strong>private foreign investors <\/strong>are also subject to the notification and approval requirement, partly depending on whether the notification threshold of CHF\u00a0100 million annual turnover (or gross earnings in the case of banks) is reached cumulatively (art.\u00a04 para.\u00a01 lit.\u00a0b\u00a0and\u00a0c PD-FDI). This concerns in particular:<\/p><ul><li>Producers of military equipment and of so-called <em>dual-use goods <\/em>that can be used for both civilian and military purposes;<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>Undertakings that operate critical infrastructures (e.g. certain electricity, gas and water suppliers, telecommunications providers, railway companies, providers of security-relevant IT systems, hospitals, operators of central transport hubs like the Geneva and Zurich airports, certain food distribution centers as well as systemically important banks and other systemically important financial market infrastructures); and<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>Certain manufacturers of medicines, medical products or vaccines.<br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><p>Takeover of domestic undertakings that have had an average of less than <strong>50\u00a0full-time employees <\/strong>and a worldwide annual turnover of less than <strong>CHF\u00a010 million <\/strong>in the past two business years are not subject to approval (<strong><em>de\u00a0minimis<\/em> threshold <\/strong>pursuant toart.\u00a04 para.\u00a02 PD-FDI; for a schematic overview of the thresholds, see Table\u00a01 below).<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td width=\"302\"><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>State-owned or state-related foreign investor:<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td style=\"text-align: left;\" width=\"302\"><p><strong>Private foreign investor:<br \/><\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"302\"><ul><li style=\"text-align: left;\">All takeovers of domestic undertakings that are not within the <em>de\u00a0minimis<\/em> threshold (art.\u00a04 para.\u00a01 lit.\u00a0a PD-FDI)<\/li><\/ul><\/td><td width=\"302\"><ul><li style=\"text-align: left;\">Takeovers of domestic undertakings in particularly security-relevant sectors (art. 4 para. 1 lit. b PD-FDI)<\/li><\/ul><\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"text-align: left;\" width=\"302\"><p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"302\"><ul><li style=\"text-align: left;\">Takeovers of domestic undertakings in particularly security-relevant sectors + reaching the notification threshold of CHF 100 million annual turnover or gross earnings (art. 4 para. 1 lit. c PD-FDI)<\/li><\/ul><\/td><\/tr><tr><td colspan=\"2\" width=\"604\"><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><em>De\u00a0minimis<\/em><\/strong><strong> threshold: <\/strong>No approval requirement if the domestic undertaking has &lt;50 full-time employees <u>and<\/u> an annual turnover of &lt;CHF 10 million worldwide (art.\u00a04 para.\u00a02 PD-FDI)<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p><strong>Table 1: <\/strong>Schematic overview of the notification thresholds.<\/p><p>A<strong> &#171;<em>takeover<\/em>&#187; <\/strong>is defined as any process by which one or more investors directly or indirectly acquire control over an undertaking or parts thereof, in particular by merger, takeover of a participation or significant assets, or by conclusion of a contract (art.\u00a03 lit.\u00a0a PD-FDI).<\/p><p>The term <strong>&#171;<em>undertaking<\/em>&#187; <\/strong>is understood to mean any buyer or supplier of goods and services in the economic process, irrespective of the legal or organisational form (art.\u00a03 lit.\u00a0b PD-FDI).<\/p><p>The Preliminary Draft proposes two alternative legal definitions for the term <strong>&#171;<em>domestic undertaking<\/em>&#187; <\/strong>(art.\u00a03 lit.\u00a0c PD-FDI):<\/p><ul><li>An undertaking that is registered in the Swiss Commercial Register (variant\u00a01); or, more narrowly formulated,<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>an undertaking that is registered in the Swiss Commercial Register <em>and <\/em>is not part of a group of undertakings with headquarters and head office outside Switzerland (variant\u00a02).<br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><p>A<strong> &#171;<em>foreign investor<\/em>&#187; <\/strong>is a person who intends to take over a domestic enterprise and (art.\u00a03 lit.\u00a0d PD-FDI):<\/p><ul><li>is an undertaking with its headquarters and head office outside Switzerland;<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>is an undertaking with assets controlled by one or more persons abroad or by another state; or<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>is a natural person without Swiss citizenship who acts as a direct investor.<br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><p>Natural persons from EU\/EFTA Member States who intend to take over a domestic undertaking on the basis of the Agreement of 21\u00a0June\u00a01999 between Switzerland, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other, on the free movement of persons (<a href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/legal-content\/DE\/ALL\/?uri=CELEX%3A22002A0430%2801%29\"><strong>Agreement on the free movement of persons between Switzerland and the EU<\/strong><\/a>) or the Convention of 4\u00a0January\u00a01960 establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.efta.int\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/Vaduz_Convention_Agreement_Updated_1_November_2021.pdf\"><strong>EFTA Convention<\/strong><\/a>) in order to be able to pursue a self-employed activity in Switzerland are not considered foreign investors.<\/p><p><em>Approval criteria (intervention criteria) <\/em><\/p><p>According to the Preliminary Draft, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.seco.admin.ch\/seco\/en\/home.html\"><strong>SECO<\/strong><\/a>), as the competent authority, approves takeovers if there is no reason to assume that <strong>public order or security <\/strong>is endangered or threatened by the takeover (art.\u00a05 para.\u00a01 PD-FDI; cf. the two-stage approval procedure below).<\/p><p>The risk from a takeover for public order or security is understood as the product of the probability of occurrence and the potential extent of damage. According to the Explanatory Report, if one of these variables approaches zero, the risk from a takeover also tends towards zero. According to the Preliminary Draft, when <strong>assessing the risk, <\/strong>SECO must take into account in particular whether (art.\u00a05 para.\u00a02 PD-FDI):<\/p><ul><li>the foreign investor engages or has engaged in activities that are or have been detrimental to the public policy or security of Switzerland or other states;<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>the foreign investor or its home state has attempted or is attempting to acquire information about the domestic undertaking by means of espionage;<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>the foreign investor engages in or has engaged in espionage;<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>sanctions have been imposed directly or indirectly on the foreign investor under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fedlex.admin.ch\/eli\/cc\/2002\/564\/en\">Embargo Act of 22\u00a0March\u00a02002<\/a>;<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>the services, products or infrastructure of the domestic undertaking can be replacedwithin a reasonable period of time;<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>the foreign investor gains access to central security-relevant information or to data requiring special protection under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fedlex.admin.ch\/eli\/cc\/1993\/1945_1945_1945\/en\">Federal Act on Data Protection of 19\u00a0June\u00a01992<\/a> as a result of the takeover; and<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>significant distortions of competition result from the takeover.<br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><p>These criteria are not an exhaustive list. In addition, the foreign investor&#8217;s willingness to cooperate with the authorities may be taken into account in the decision (art.\u00a05 para.\u00a03 PD-FDI).<\/p><p>Instead of prohibiting a takeover, it may be made subject to appropriate types of requirements or conditions, provided that the threat or endangerment to public policy or public security is thereby eliminated (art.\u00a05 para.\u00a04 PD-FDI).<\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Two-stage approval procedure <\/em><\/p><p>The foreign investor must submit an application to SECO prior to the execution of the takeover (art.\u00a06 para.\u00a01 PD-FDI). This is followed by a two-stage examination procedure:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Phase\u00a0I: <\/strong>Upon receipt of the (complete) application, SECO decides within <strong>onemonth<\/strong>, in consultation with the co-interested administrative units and after hearing the Federal Intelligence Service (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vbs.admin.ch\/en\/ddps\/organisation\/administrative-units\/intelligence-service.html\">FIS<\/a><\/strong>), whether the takeover can be approved directly or whether a review procedure is to be initiated (art.\u00a07 para.\u00a01 PD-FDI).<br \/><br \/><\/li><li><strong>Phase\u00a0II: <\/strong>If an in-depth examination procedure is initiated, SECO decides in agreement with the co-interested administrative units involved and after hearing the FIS within <strong>three months <\/strong>of the initiation whether the takeover is approved (art.\u00a08 para.\u00a01 PD-FDI).<br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><p>The Federal Council shall decide on approval at the request of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.admin.ch\/gov\/en\/start\/departments\/department-of-economic-affairs-education-research-eaer.html\">EAER<\/a>) if:<\/p><ul><li>SECO or a co-interested administrative unit opposes approval of the takeover (art.\u00a08 para.\u00a02 lit.\u00a0a PD-FDI); or<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>SECO and the co-interested administrative units are of the opinion that the decision is of considerable political significance (art.\u00a08 para.\u00a02 lit.\u00a0b PD-FDI).<br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><p>In principle, the decision of the Federal Council should be taken within the three-month period pursuant to art.\u00a08 para.\u00a01 PD-FDI. However, it is possible that no Federal Council meeting will be held at the end of this period (e.g. in summer or at the end of December\/beginning of January). For this reason, art. 8\u00a0para.\u00a03 PD-FDI provides that the Federal Council must decide on a takeover at the latest on the occasion of the first ordinary Federal Council meeting held after the expiry of the three-month period. This may lead to further delays for the parties to the transaction.<\/p><p><em>Administrative measures and sanctions <\/em><\/p><p>If a takeover requiring approval is executed without approval, the Federal Council may order the necessary administrative measures to restore the proper state of affairs (in particular divestments as <em>ultima ratio<\/em>; art.\u00a017 PD-FDI).<\/p><p>In addition, a fine of up to 10% of the value of the transaction is to be imposed on whoever (art.\u00a018 para.\u00a01 PD-FDI):<\/p><ul><li>completes a takeover subject to approval without approval;<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>completes a takeover that was approved on the basis of intentionally made false statements and is prohibited after reconsideration; or<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>fails to carry out a measure to restore the proper condition.<br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><p>The sanction addressee is the respective foreign investor.<\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><strong>Appraisal and outlook <\/strong><\/p><p>Whether a Swiss investment control should be introduced is a political question. From our point of view, however, we welcome the fact that the Preliminary Draft is limited to the protection of public order and security and that the investment control is not intended to pursue other regulatory objectives such as the protection of certain industries or technologies or the prevention of the loss of jobs or <em>know-how.<\/em> In other respects, too, the Federal Council has succeeded with the Preliminary Draft in producing a regulatory proposal that is lean by international standards and limited to what is necessary. The approval criteria for transactions subject to approval nevertheless appear vague and unclear. In the interest of legal certainty and predictability, these should be formulated more clearly\u00a0\u2013\u00a0as far as this is possible without excessively restricting the discretionary powers of the authorities. Furthermore, it is then up to SECO&#8217;s practice to quickly provide clarity in this regard.<\/p><p>If the Federal Act on Foreign Invest Control were to be introduced as envisaged, there would be an additional notification and approval requirement for certain transactions in addition to those under merger control law. In this case, other notification thresholds and approval criteria would apply. For the undertakings concerned (in particular the buyers, but also the sellers and target undertaking), this means a considerable additional effort and, depending on the case, an additional delay of the transaction.<\/p><p>The consultation period ends on 9\u00a0September\u00a02022, after which the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parlament.ch\/en\">Swiss Parliament<\/a> will debate the introduction of a Swiss investment control.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c0b3fb0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c0b3fb0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-no-translation=\"\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>CORE Attorneys is a boutique law firm in Switzerland, focusing on <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/expertise\/wettbewerbsrecht\/\">competition\/antitrust law<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/expertise\/regulierung\/\">regulatory<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/expertise\/vertriebsrecht\/\">distribution law<\/a> matters. Visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/news-insights\/\">News &amp; Insights<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/core-attorneys\">LinkedIn<\/a> for regular updates on all our focus areas.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Der Schweizer Bundesrat er\u00f6ffnete am 18.\u00a0Mai\u00a02022 die Vernehmlassung f\u00fcr ein Schweizer Investitionspr\u00fcfgesetz. Vorgeschlagen wird die Einf\u00fchrung einer Melde- und Genehmigungspflicht f\u00fcr gewisse \u00dcbernahmen inl\u00e4ndischer Unternehmen. Im Fokus stehen dabei staatliche und staatsnahe ausl\u00e4ndische Investoren, doch k\u00f6nnen in bestimmten besonders sicherheitsrelevanten&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Einf\u00fchrung einer Schweizer Investitionskontrolle \u2013 Bundesrat publiziert Vorentwurf des Gesetzes","_seopress_titles_desc":"ausl\u00e4ndische Investoren, Bundesrat, Eckwerte, Gef\u00e4hrdungen, Investitionskontrolle, \u00f6ffentliche Ordnung, \u00f6ffentliche Sicherheit, Schweiz, staatliche Investioren, staatsnahe Investoren, Wettbewerbsverzerrung, Vorentwurf, FDI, Foreign Direct Investment","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[286,280,281,311,283,312,279,313,284,285,74,287,288,310],"class_list":["post-5654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neuigkeiten","category-regulatory","tag-auslaendische-investoren","tag-bundesrat","tag-eckwerte","tag-foreign-direct-investment","tag-gefaehrdungen","tag-gesetz","tag-investitionskontrolle","tag-investitionspruefgesetz-ipg","tag-oeffentliche-ordnung","tag-oeffentliche-sicherheit","tag-schweiz","tag-staatliche-investioren","tag-staatsnahe-investoren","tag-wettbewerbsverzerrung-vorentwurf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5654"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5695,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5654\/revisions\/5695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}