Integral Revision of the Limited Liability Company Law, New Auditors' Law and Other Amendments of Corporate Law

On 16 December 2005, the Swiss Parliament adopted an integral new law on Swiss limited liability companies (LLC, GmbH or Sàrl). These revisions further entail amendments to the laws on corporations (Aktiengesellschaften, sociétés anonymes), cooperatives (Genos- senschaften, sociétés coopératives) and some further changes to other corporate laws of general application. In parallel, the Swiss Parliament adopted a new federal law on the admission and supervision of statutory auditors (law on supervision of auditors). It is expected that these new provisions will enter into force in the second half of 2007.