Setting up a Company in Switzerland

Having a company in Switzerland can often be an interesting option, both for people who are already professionally active in Switzerland and for people who intend to settle there from abroad.

 Stock Corporation ("SA") v. Limited Liability Company ("SAGL")

The two most frequent capital companies in Switzerland are the SAGL (German: GmbH, limited liability company) and the SA (German: AG, stock corporation). The main peculiarities and differences between these two types of companies areas follows:

Constitution:

For the constitution, the promoter must proceed as follows:

• Choose the name of the company and check if the sameis still available (so if there is not already a registered company with thesame name)
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• Choose and define the purpose of the company (for some kinds of activities a special authorization may be required, for example for financial intermediaries)
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• Pay the necessary capital into a bank account, which must remain at the complete disposal of the company
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• If not resident in Switzerland himself, hire one more local managing officers enabled to represent the company with sole signatur

Costs for the registration of the Company:

• LLC: approximately CHF 1'000 - 3'000 (all costs and taxes included)
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• SA: approximately CHF 2'000 - 5'000 (all costs and taxes included)