Services
Among our clients are companies (legal entities and legal communities) as well as individuals, whom we serve by entering into both individual-case or long-term mandates.
Accordingly, we offer the entire palette of legal services. For this, our firm has broad legal and economic experience and is excellently connected both nationally and internationall.
Banking and Financial Markets Law
Civil right
Company Law
Construction and Planning Law
Contract Law
Litigation and Arbitration
M&A / Private Equity and Venture Capital
Trade and Export Finance
Banking and Financial Markets Law
We advise domestic and foreign financial intermediaries such as banks, securities brokers, asset managers, and collective capital investments with respect to legal and regulation issues. This includes support as regards fulfilment of regulatory requirements and the setup of solid compliance and corporate-governance structures (for this purpose, we also place independent board-of-directors members).
In the area of collective capital investments, we advise Swiss and foreign collective capital investments (traditional investment funds or UCITS, alternative investment funds such as hedge funds, private-equity funds and real-estate funds as well as ETFs) in the structuring and authorisation for distribution in Switzerland and represent them in particular before the Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA and the SIX Swiss Exchange.
We generate the required fund documents (fund contracts, prospectuses, and essential information for investors), draft and negotiate contracts (in particular asset-management and distribution contracts) and submit applications to obtain the necessary supervisory permits and licences.
We additionally advise financial institutions and their clients with respect to all civil-law-related issues pertaining to banking and asset-management practice and conduct litigation and other proceedings concerning international mutual legal and administrative assistance.
BGPartner is affiliated with the self-regulatory organization of the Swiss Bar Association and Swiss Notary Association (SRO SAV/SNV). Dr. Alain P. Röthlisberger and Tanja Aebersold are licensed as financial intermediaries. BGPartner can therefore offer its clients additional services subject to money laundering regulation.
CONSTRUCTION AND PLANNING LAW
In the area of construction and planning law, a large part of our team possesses long-time experience from which our clients benefit.
The public and private construction- and planning-law area encompasses all aspects before, during, and after the erecting of a structure. This entails not only the securing of the relevant permits, but also allowing the builder to create the desired object and providing legal support to building contractors.
In principle our clients can obtain complete legal advice during the construction phase. We advise and represent our clients particularly in proceedings under public law before the competent authorities, support them in the conclusion of contracts for work and services, architecture, and planning contracts, as well as in the enforcement of contractual and non-contractual claim.
Company Law
BGPartner advises privately and publicly owned companies, their boards of directors, investors, and shareholders, as well as entrepreneurs from all branches with respect to all commercial- and company-law issues. The spectrum of clients in our care ranges from exchange-listed enterprises through small and medium-sized companies up to start-ups.
Within the commercial- and company-law area, we provide the following services in particular:
- Founding of companies and the establishing of branches
- Setup of organisation structures (organisational regulations)
- Financing of enterprises
- Shareholder agreements
- Succession arrangements
- General shareholders’ meetings (preparing and conducting, taking of minutes, independent voting proxy)
- Assuming of board of directors’ appointments
- Advising of boards of directors and management (duties and liability)
- Employment issues (employment contracts and termination agreements, etc.)
- Employee share-purchase plans
- Data protection in enterprises
- Corporate governance issues
- General issues related to commercial, company, and capital-market law (ad-hoc publicity, management transactions, insider trading, anti-corruption, etc.)
- Advising in business-law matters (internal investigations, white collar crime)
- Representation of authorities and organisations (e.g. the Takeover Board, FINMA, SIX Swiss Exchange)
M&A / PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL
Our lawyers have extensive and in-depth knowledge in the area of M&A and Private Equity.
BGPartner advises and attends to national and international enterprises and entrepreneurs with regard to all issues in connection with national and cross-border transactions. We have specific and long-time experience,
in particular with the following types of transactions:
- Purchases and sales of enterprises
- Mergers, de-mergers, and transfers of assets
- Auctions
- Succession arrangements
- Recapitalisation and restructuring
- Private-equity, venture-capital, and MBO transactions
- Joint ventures and co-operations
- Cross-border transactions
- Capital-market transactions (IPO’s, capital increases, share buybacks)
- Financing
Among the pragmatic and solutionoriented services of our M&A specialists are, in particular, the optimal structuring and execution of transactions, legal due diligence (both on the purchaser’s and seller’s side), the drafting and negotiation
of the transaction contracts and documentation, the securing of the required permits and tax rulings, and the organisation of and representation at contract signings and closings of the transactions.
The BGPartner M&A team works closely together with specialists from other areas, in particular tax, competition, and employment law, as well as IT/IP. For transactions with international aspects, we work closely together with our network-partner firms (LAWorld) around the globe.
BGPartner has been repeatedly awarded as top law firm in the area of "Private Equity and Venture Capital". More information can be found here.
LITIGATION AND ARBITRATION
The attorneys of BGPartner protect the interests of clients in civil, commercial, administrative and criminal matters before all Swiss courts (including the Federal Supreme Court) and authorities.
Our team of lawyers has a broad and long-standing experience in national and international arbitration (including ICC, Swiss Rules and CAS). Our services include both ad hoc and institutional arbitration.
Our activities cover the entire spectrum of litigation. This includes in particular the determination of the litigation strategy, its implementation and the conduct of any (in-court and out-of-court) settlement negotiations.
If required, BGPartner is also able to provide clients with competent representation before foreign courts and authorities worldwide within a very short period of time due to its integration in the international LAWorld network.
TRADE & EXPORT FINANCE
BGPartner Trade & Export Finance group features experienced specialists delivering comprehensive services to market players and industries involved in international commerce, trade and export finance.
We advise exporters, importers, lenders, borrowers, export credit agencies, insurances, commodity traders and other institutions and investors on successfully pursuing trade and export finance transactions throughout the world.
BGPartner is a proud co-founder of the ACQUES Law Network, which is the first and the only existing multi-jurisdictional, global network of highly experienced law firms specialized in the area of trade finance law, and more specifically trade credit insurance and surety law.
Its network membership enables BGP to support providers of trade finance products in all legal aspects of their cross-border business activities. The Network offers multi-market services and solutions, including policy advice, pre and post claims advisory, loss mitigation and salvage/recoveries activities.
To find out more about the ACQUES Law Network please visit: www.acqueslaw.com
CONTRACT LAW
Our services in the area of contract design encompass the entire spectrum.
Our attorneys work in all areas of contract law (particularly sales law, tenancy law, loans, employment law, contracts for work and services, mandate law, agency and distribution law).
We thereby particularly offer support to our clients in solving complex contractual problems and in the design of customised contracts in German and English.
Our services in the area of contract design thus encompass the entire spectrum (contract conception, contract negotiation, contract design, contract drafting, contract conclusion, as well as contract closing).
We are also active in practice areas adjoining civil and contract law such as, in particular, liability law, debt-enforcement and bankruptcy law, as well as data protection law.
CIVIL RIGHT
We advise and represent our clients notably in estate matters (particularly estate planning, estate settlement, and will execution) as well as in all family-law matters (particularly protection of marriage, divorce, support and marital-property law, child-related matters, cohabitation, marital and inheritance contracts, adult protection).
Additionally, our team of attorneys possesses comprehensive experience in the law of persons, associations, and foundations as well as in property-law matters (particularly in the area of storey (condominium) ownership and the law of neighbours).