D-01-22

When drafted in broad terms, a compliance clause also covers foreign regulations and sanctions, even when Swiss law has been chosen as the governing law. The bank may rely on such a clause to freeze the relevant assets on the grounds that it must comply with foreign sanctions, even after the termination of the banking relationship (Federal Supreme Court 4A_455/2025 of May 21, 2026). In the case at hand, the client company holds cash accounts with a Swiss bank, a[...]

In its decision 4A_433/2025 of May 27, 2026, the Federal Court dismissed the appeal of a liability insurer that had refused to pay benefits under a policy structured according to the loss-occurrence principle. This mechanism links the claim to the time when the damage becomes apparent, rather than to the date of the underlying event. The insured, a manufacturer of aluminum composite panels used for facade cladding, had been covered by the appellant’s liability insurance for several years. The insurance[...]

In a ruling 4A_535/2025 dated April 28, 2026, scheduled for publication, the Federal Court rules on the right—or rather, the obligation— of an agent to refuse to carry out a client’s instructions when there is reason to believe that the client’s assets fall under the “freezing of assets and economic resources” provision within the meaning ofArticle 15 of the Ordinance Establishing Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (“Ukraine Ordinance”). On November 18, 2021, an investment company (the “Company”),[...]

According to Judgment 2C_506/2024 of May 4, 2026 (scheduled for publication), issued by the Second Public Law Division of the Federal Supreme Court, professional secrecy does not preclude Switzerland from providing a foreign state, in the context of administrative assistance proceedings, with documents held by the cantonal tax administration that it received from an attorney acting on behalf of his client. In this case, the Spanish tax authorities suspect a taxpayer domiciled in Switzerland of actually being domiciled in Spain.[...]