Walder Wyss Ltd

Managing Partners: Pierre-Alain Guillaume, Florian Gunz Niedermann, Michael Isler, Irène Suter-Sieber

Number of partners: 79

Number of lawyers in total: over 280

Languages: Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Rhaeto Romanic, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish

Firm Overview:

Walder Wyss is one of Switzerland’s leading law firms, specialising in corporate and commercial law, banking and finance, intellectual property and competition law, dispute resolution and tax law. Walder Wyss has established a leading position in specific sectors and product areas. Its national and international networks of correspondents and partners from a broad range of disciplines are selected according to the highest standards of professional competence.

Practice Areas:

• Arbitration
• Art & Entertainment
• Banking, Finance & Insurance
• Capital Markets
• Commercial Contracts
• Competition
• White Collar Crime & Investigations
• Corporate / M&A
• Data & Technology
• Employment
• Energy & Infrastructure
• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Intellectual Property
• Litigation
• Notarial Services
• Private Clients
• Private Equity & Funds
• Public Law & Litigation
• Public Procurement
• Real Estate & Construction
• Restructuring & Insolvency
• Sports
• Start-ups & Venture Capital
• Tax

Main Areas of Practice:

Banking, Finance, Real Estate & Insurance:

Walder Wyss handles domestic and international banking, securitisations, infrastructure and project finance, domestic and cross-border leasing, and structured financial instruments as well as over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives. Walder Wyss advises on all aspects of Swiss securities laws and regulations, including public equity and debt offerings, government finance, private placements and investment fund offerings. Walder Wyss advises on insurance matters, including engagements regarding the establishment of agencies and branches, the formation of new insurance companies, cross-border provision of insurance services and contemplated acquisitions of, or joint ventures with, existing insurance companies. Acting for the real estate industry’s leading players, Walder Wyss provides advice on all aspects of real estate projects (commercial and residential properties), including acquisition of properties or real estate companies, structuring, financing, lease and tax planning.

IT, Telecommunications & Multimedia:

Walder Wyss focuses on the interlinked and converging areas of information technology, internet, multimedia, media and telecommunications law. It advises on software protection, licensing issues, systems integration contracts, data processing contracts, regulatory and other issues relating to the use of software by financial institutions, outsourcing contracts, online information systems, data protection and electronic commerce. The firm’s telecom practice covers corporate issues, contracts, intellectual property, application for and transfer of licences, registrations, sharing/co-using of infrastructure, third party access, antitrust, data protection, construction and environmental matters.

Intellectual Property:

The firm has a wide range of experience in protecting intellectual property rights as well as exploiting such rights by way of licensing, franchising and merchandising. The firm’s intellectual property lawyers assist in registration matters, negotiate acquisition of rights, and represent clients in infringement disputes.

Corporate & Commercial:

Walder Wyss advises on and assists in the incorporation and organisation of various business activities in Switzerland. The firm helps its clients to create suitable corporate governance structures, and provides efficient advice on legal and compliance matters, including, but not limited to, corporate, environmental and labour issues, business leases and property management, immigration and foreign employee recruitment, closing-down procedures and data protection law issues. Walder Wyss also assists in finding the most adequate legal solution for the protection and transfer of rights in technology as well as the distribution of goods and the provision of services.

M&A, Restructuring, Joint Ventures, IPOs & Private Equity:

Walder Wyss handles the structuring and implementation of corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, outsourcings, shareholder agreements, takeovers, demergers, capital restructurings, repurchases of shares, management buyouts, joint ventures, reorganisations, crossborder business arrangements and other direct investment transactions. Walder Wyss advises on seed, early stage and growth financing. Walder Wyss acts in relation to structuring and setting up funds, preparing organisational and offering documents, fundraising, advising on legal, tax and regulatory aspects of investments and implementing the investment strategy. The firm also structures the exit from the target companies including IPOs.

Litigation, Arbitration & ADR:

Walder Wyss has one of the pre-eminent litigation/arbitration teams in Switzerland. The firm advises and represents its clients in all commercial litigation and arbitration matters. The firm specialises in cross-border proceedings and all the legal and cultural challenges involved in such actions. It represents clients before all Swiss courts in civil proceedings and is also experienced in the procedural areas of injunctions, attachment and seizure of assets, enforcement of foreign judgements and judicial assistance. The firm’s arbitration specialists represent their clients or act as arbitrators in national and international arbitration proceedings – both in Switzerland and abroad.

Tax:

Walder Wyss’ tax specialists advise on capital market transactions, IPOs and tax-optimised financial products and investment funds. The firm plans local and cross-border business structuring projects for individual enterprises and corporate groups, and optimises the participation, financing, intellectual property, manufacturing and distribution structures. Walder Wyss puts forward tax planning and tax optimisation solutions for businesses, business owners, employees and investors and assists in their implementation. In addition, Walder Wyss provides advice on indirect taxation (stamp duties, value added tax, etc.) as well as special issues regarding fiscal charges, and represents clients in proceedings before tax and customs authorities as well as tax courts.

Competition/Antitrust:

Walder Wyss is proficient in all aspects of the regulation of competition. The competition team regularly handles complex merger filings in Switzerland and co-ordinates them with filings in other jurisdictions. The team is routinely involved in questions of market dominance and the design of agreements that do not violate competition law. It represents firms in administrative proceedings before competition authorities and courts. It also counsels its clients in the implementation of compliance programmes and advises bidders and government authorities in proceedings for the award of public contracts.

Private Clients:

Walder Wyss advises high net worth individuals regarding domestic and international estate planning and provides tailor-made succession solutions. Its services include drafting of wills, pre- and postnuptial agreements, particularly matrimonial property agreements, and inheritance contracts as well as any related contractual arrangements, all of which are drawn up in close collaboration with Walder Wyss’ experienced notaries. Walder Wyss assists in setting up legal structures, including foundations and trusts.