Establish a Company in Switzerland

Types of Companies:
PLC Corp/ LLC | Branch

Switzerland is a 'code' country, and business entities are governed by the Civil Code. Therefore, the Civil Code is at Federal Level, businesses are domiciled in a particular canton. Each canton maintains a Commercial Register (Registre de Commerce), and the mandatory entries in the Register of subscribers, directors, capital structure etc have strict legal force.

The forms of business activities with legal personality are the Stock Corporation and its variants (dealt with below), the Limited Liability Company (SA), and the Limited Partnership (Sàrl). These last two are not much used by foreign investors. General Partnerships and Sole Proprietorships are also possible.

The legal structures are similar to those of the German AG/GmbH, the French S.A./S.A.R.L. and the US "limited liability company".

It is also possible to have a branch of a foreign corporation inscribed in the Commercial Register, or to set up a private company which is not a legal entity in its own right.