Legal and Regulatory Framework - Switzerland

At the public sector level, Switzerland supports projects that increase international competitiveness, including the improvement of legal frameworks and the reduction of international transaction costs. To implement sector issues such as competition policy, the programmes aim to reinforce the capacities of the public and private sectors, particularly in the creation of suitable institutional and legal frameworks and their efficient and effective implementation.

Switzerland also supports projects aiming at reducing the administrative costs of doing business for the private sector (i.e. the burden of regulations, the burden of taxes and the cost of finance), as well as the barriers to competition (i.e. barriers to entry and exit). The focus areas include business laws and regulations, simplification of company registration, contract enforcement, insolvency and bankruptcy procedures, property laws and land titling. Also, Switzerland devotes particular attention to measures affecting the commercial financial sector, notably in the fields of creditors’ property rights, collateral enforcement, credit information systems and the regulation of financial products, to improve financial intermediation and access to finance for SMEs.

Switzerland supports the enhancement of internal regulatory and enforcement capacities in areas such as intellectual property rights (genetic resources and traditional knowledge, and geographical indications), competition policy, consumer protection, public procurement, and e-commerce.