International & Cross-Border Transactions | Global

Bar & Karrer is a top-tier Swiss law firm with offices in Zürich, Geneva, Lugano and Zug. The team offers excellent international capabilities through seamless cooperation with other leading law firms across the world. The firm's formidable reputation makes it a popular choice for Swiss and international clients, including major corporations and financial institutions.

The team is highly rated across a range of transactional and contentious practice areas. The key pillars for international transactional work include M&A, banking, capital markets and tax. The firm handles both inbound and outbound matters, such as assisting Swiss lenders with outbound financing mandates and representing non-Swiss buyers investing in Swiss targets.

In the contentious space, the team is recognised for its market-leading arbitration, litigation and white-collar crime practice groups. Cross-border work includes the handling of disputes relating to data, planning, real estate and construction, as well as acting in ICC arbitrations and a variety of national rules arbitrations.

Homburger is a prominent independent law firm offering high-level expertise in transactional and contentious matters. Located in Zürich, the team is well regarded for its capacity to handle international mandates by joining forces with overseas counsel. The law firm is highly experienced in advising on inbound investment into Switzerland, and it also assists Swiss clients with outbound business through its strong connections and non-exclusive relationships with foreign firms.

In the cross-border transactional space, Homburger offers noteworthy capabilities in TMT, banking, capital markets and M&A. The team represents domestic and international clients, typically advising on Swiss aspects of law and assisting other firms with complex international transactions. Equally, the law firm has a leading competition practice, in which it has experience leading multi-jurisdictional merger control cases.

On the disputes side, the law firm's arbitration and litigation teams are active on cross-border matters, particularly concerning Middle Eastern, UK and US jurisdictions, and the law firm also offers a well-regarded white-collar crime team.

Lenz & Staehelin is a robust Swiss law firm offering a full service to a roster of domestic and international clients. Based in Geneva, Zürich and Lausanne, the team has an active inbound practice and advises clients on Swiss elements of impressive international projects. The law firm is praised for effective collaboration with firms in foreign jurisdictions when handling cross-border mandates, frequently working with UK and US counterparts.

Lenz & Staehelin possesses wide-ranging expertise in transactional and contentious areas. The law firm's M&A, banking and tax practices are much sought after for big-ticket and mid-market inbound mandates, representing clients from a range of sectors including pharmaceuticals, shipping and luxury goods.

The law firm further hosts an excellent disputes team, which is widely recognised for its ability in multi-jurisdictional commercial litigation and arbitration proceedings, and the white-collar-crime team at the firm also offers competent services.

Baker McKenzie offers one of the most expansive and established international footprints in the legal industry, and its global reach is frequently referred to by multinational clients as one of its primary assets. The team based in Geneva and Zürich is commended for its effective coordination with other offices across the network, and it demonstrates a strong track record in leading and co-leading outbound multi-jurisdictional transactions, as well as acting on Swiss legal elements of inbound deals.

In Switzerland, the team at Baker McKenzie is well regarded across a range of practice areas, including banking, tax, capital markets and M&A. The law firm is a particularly popular choice for cross-border acquisition finance transactions and has expertise in assisting banks and issuers with international capital raising. The firm acts for an impressive array of Swiss and international clients, including those from the pharmaceutical, technology, life science and real estate sectors.

Niederer Kraft Frey is a distinguished Swiss law firm with an active presence in the cross-border space. Located in Zürich, it is recognised for seamlessly teaming up with other firms around the world to handle a wide international scope of work. The law firm has an impressive track record in leading cross-border mandates and frequently assists international clients with Swiss law.

Niederer Kraft Frey has a formidable presence in the transactional space and is particularly known for its cross-border capabilities in M&A, banking and capital markets. The law firm has notable strength acting for shareholders on cross-border divestments and is regularly mandated by issuers and financial institutions for international rights offerings. The team also has an excellent reputation for advising Swiss and international banks and financial institutions on banking litigation and regulatory investigations.

Schellenberg Wittmer is a notable Swiss law firm with offices in Zürich and Geneva and a presence in Singapore, expanding its international reach into the Asia-Pacific region. The team has strong experience in cooperating with a range of firms from other jurisdictions, adopting a regular co-counsel role on cross-border matters.

In relation to the law firm's transactional focus, Schellenberg Wittmer represents an array of international clients and routinely acts as lead counsel for matters that span Europe and further afield. Additionally, the law firm hosts a top-tier restructuring practice that advises on high-profile cross-border restructuring and insolvencies, with increasing activity on the enforcement of foreign bankruptcies. The firm is also well regarded for its international work in M&A, banking and capital markets, demonstrating the ability to handle both inbound and outbound cross-border transactions.

On the contentious side, Schellenberg Wittmer has significant experience across the Geneva and Zürich teams, and particularly stands out for its expertise in dispute resolution and white-collar crime. These teams are devoted to supporting clients from the pharmaceutical, energy and banking industries with a range of litigation, including post-M&A and shareholder disputes, as well as corporate investigations.

Walder Wyss has offices across Switzerland, including in Zürich and Geneva, and clients benefit from the law firm's presence in all language regions of the country. The team offers notable international and cross-border capabilities through effective collaboration with overseas counsel.

Walder Wyss regularly advises domestic and international clients from the pharmaceutical, energy and manufacturing industries on their acquisition of Swiss companies and other cross-border transactional activity. With significant expertise in handling regulatory and tax compliance matters, the lawyers are well regarded by Swiss clients for their knowledge of multi-jurisdictional regulations.

On the disputes front, the team is adept at handling a range of contentious matters. Its practitioners have robust skills in high-profile litigation and arbitrations, and are experienced in matters such as international investigations, fraud cases and commercial disputes.

CMS is regarded as a highly capable global practice with an excellent network of offices throughout continental Europe, strengthened by its presence in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The team, based in Zürich and Geneva, has established a solid presence in the market and coordinates with teams across the network to handle a wide scope of international matters. Its close integration with offices in Germany is often highlighted by clients.

When it comes to transactions, CMS handles cross-border acquisitions and joint ventures, as well as international banking and tax matters. The law firm acts for international companies and Swiss clients from a range of sectors, including life sciences, real estate and energy. The team's white-collar crime practice is also active on cross-border mandates, particularly those involving a variety of European jurisdictions.

MLL Legal is a robust independent Swiss law firm and has offices spread throughout the French- and German-speaking regions of Switzerland, including the key hubs of Zürich and Geneva. The law firm's membership of several recognised international networks, including the elite Interlex Group, facilitates international inbound and outbound workstreams for both Swiss and foreign clients.

Deriving strength from its transactional and regulatory knowledge, MLL Legal is able to support clients through a wide range of cross-border corporate and financing mandates occurring across the TMT, life sciences, finance and healthcare industries. The law firm regularly provides advice on asset transfers, acquisitions, double taxation and the transfer pricing elements of multi-jurisdictional transactions.

Pestalozzi is a well-regarded independent law firm with offices in Zürich and Geneva. The team has a strong global outlook and assists both international and Swiss clients. Pestalozzi is the only firm in Switzerland to hold membership of the Lex Mundi network, which facilitates its ability to coordinate with co-counsel from a number of major jurisdictions and emerging markets worldwide. The team demonstrates the capacity to handle both inbound and outbound cross-border mandates.

While Pestalozzi offers expertise across a range of practice areas, it stands out for its activity in the financial services sector. Its banking practice provides strong expertise in the financing of cross-border acquisitions, representing a raft of Swiss and international banks in litigation, investigations and other compliance mandates. Equally, its capital markets practice acts for issuers, bookrunners and underwriters, and it regularly advises international clients on securities exchange listings and Swiss regulations.

The law firm also houses strong expertise in contentious matters, including complex criminal and commercial disputes. Its lawyers are well versed in handling banking litigation, multi-jurisdictional asset recovery claims and corruption investigations. The firm has extensive experience in the disputes arena and is noted for its representation of financial institutions and individuals.

VISCHER is noted for its highly impressive capabilities across a range of transactional and regulatory matters. The law firm's banking team acts for diverse financial institutions on cross-border financings, as well as complex multi-jurisdictional litigation. VISCHER is also recognised for housing an array of specialists in payments, blockchain and cryptocurrency matters. Clients further benefit from the firm's deep expertise in insolvency and restructuring issues, routinely advising on high-profile bankruptcy proceedings in a variety of jurisdictions.