CMS Talks | 5 perspectives on trusts

As of today trusts are not codified in Swiss domestic law and are therefore established under foreign law provisions. However, following the ratification of the Hague Convention of July 1st 1985 regarding the law applicable to trusts and their recognition, foreign trusts have been recognized as a civil matter since July 1^st 2007. In addition, the Federal Tax Administration created, in collaboration with the Swiss Tax Conference, a Circular providing detail about trusts taxation in Switzerland. Last but not least, it should be noted that this institution is directly impacted by the automatic tax information exchange agreements which have come into effect in many countries since January 1^st 2017.

It is therefore not surprising that the Council of States supported a parliamentary initiative in April 2018, aligning itself with the position of the National Council's Legal Affairs Committee, thereby calling on the Federal Council to draw up a draft bill in order to make trusts a part of the Swiss civil law.

In anticipation of these future developments, this conference aims to examine the ways in which the trust is given effect in civil, criminal, tax and judicial proceedings, and to provide a state of play on the draft bill developments regarding the codification of the trust at the federal level. This includes looking at situations of conflict between the law applicable to the trust and the imperative domestic law, the procedural issues in the event of litigation or the consequences of the non-recognition of a trust from a tax law perspective.

The following speakers take part in the conference:

• Christian Lüscher, National Councilor and Vice-President of the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee of the National Council (CER-CN)
• Pierre Ducret, Attorney at the Geneva Bar and Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales
• Sarah Busca Bonvin, former Deputy Director General of the Geneva Tax Administration and member of the International Fiscal Association (Switzerland)
• Sylvain Marchand, professor at the University of Geneva and associate professor at the University of Neuchatel
• Daniel Kinzer, member of the Criminal Law Commission of the Bar Association