Register Swiss Company

What does it mean to register a company in Switzerland?

Whether an investor plans to establish a Swiss limited liability company or a stock corporation, he must consider several things. For starters, the brand name must be unique and a bank account must be opened for future transactions, with a minimum required capital. The company must also elaborate the articles of association and present them to a public notary. He will authenticate the articles and the public deed of incorporation. If the person that wants to register the new company in Switzerland is a foreign investor, it is mandatory to fill in both the Stampa Declaration Form, a negative declaration on investments, and the Lex Friedrich Declaration Form which is a permit for foreigners to acquire real estate.

What is the Swiss Trade Register?

Simply put, The Swiss Trade Register is actually a Commercial Registry where each company is registered in the district of its official address. The Commercial Register in Switzerland is called Handelsregister or HR and it contains information about all types of companies in Switzerland, as well as their addresses, shareholders and other. Therefore if the investor wants to know if the name chosen for his brand already belongs to another entity, all he needs to do is to go to the Federal Commercial Registry Office and verify.

How to subscribe a company to the Trade Register in Switzerland

Company registration in Switzerland is preceded by a meeting of the shareholders in front of a public notary. After that, an application form is completed and submitted to the office of the Commercial Register in the district of its domicile. Besides the application form, some documents are also necessary, such as the deed of incorporation, a certified copy of the articles of association, declarations from the board members and auditors and other papers. All members that are entitled to act on behalf of the company must sign the agreement for registration of the company with the Trade Register in Switzerland. After the company registration within the Commercial Registry in Switzerland is completed, a notice of the registration is published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. The procedure should not take longer than two or three weeks.

How to access to the Swiss Trade register?

All information and registration documents at the Swiss Trade Register are available for the public. Therefore, anyone who requests access for the company registration extracts or copies of a certain document needs to pay a fee and make a personal inquiry at the Commercial Registry Office. All changes are published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, so the information is updated regarding all companies in Switzerland.

Bridgewest is here to help its clients with a wide range of services regarding registration and establishment of all types of Swiss companies. We can also provide similar services in other countries, like Singapore company formation services, guidance on opening companies in Hong Kong or in Slovakia. Also, if ever in need of legal or company formation services in other European countries please contact our attorneys in the respective country, like our law firm in Hungary or our lawyers in Slovakia.