On this page you may find all kind of news concerning the Legal German-English dictionary and new words added to the dictionary by SLEDICT's users and by SOS.
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posted Sep 18, 2012, 1:47 AM by Sascha Stocker
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updated Sep 18, 2012, 2:05 AM
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The Swiss Federal High Court expressly acknowledges the applicability of the Business Judgment Rule in Switzerland in his recent decision 4A_74/2012 of 18 June 2012 E. 5.1 (published by the end of last week) The business
judgment rule reflects inter alia the
fiduciary duty and the duty of care. It was first established in the US. A test
was construed[1]
as a guideline for satisfaction of the business judgment rule. Directors in a
business should:
- act in good faith;
- act in the best interests of
the corporation;
- act on an informed basis;
- not be wasteful; and
- not involve self-interest.
Under the
business judgment rule, a US court “will
not substitute its own notions of what is or is not sound business judgment”[2] if “the directors of a corporation acted on an informed basis, in good
faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interests
of the company”[3].
Therefore, the US courts focus on the process by which a decision is reached,
not necessarily the outcome.
Adhering to the formal
criteria provided by the business judgment rule as applied by the US, German[4] and now ‑ as very
recently decided ‑ the Swiss courts[5] significantly reduces
liability risks.[6]
The Swiss courts now do apply the business judgment rule and therefore refrain from
replacing the BoD’s discretion with their own judgment, i.e. no examination of
the corporate usefulness takes place.[7] However, boards must not
only focus on formal and procedural requirements but also ensure that they
comply with their non-transferable duties in substance. In the decision 4A_74/2012, the Swiss
Federal Court mainly deals with the issue of the parent company granting a loan to its
apparently over-indebted subsidiary. The court decided on the responsibility of
the chairman of the parent company and only mentioned the business judgment rule as an obiter dictum. You may find further information regarding the main issue of the decision in German in the Blog of N'Jus.
[1] This
test was construed in the opinion for Grobow
v. Perot, 539 A.2d 180 (Del. 1988).
[2] Aronson v. Lewis, 473 A.2d 805, 812
(Del. 1984).
[3] Sinclair Oil Corp. v. Levien, 280 A.2d
717, 720 (Del. 1971).
[4] In September 2005, the
German legislator enacted an amendment to its corporate law, which introduced
the business judgment rule in Germany according to the American model (cf. Gesetz zur Unternehmensintegrität und
Modernisierung des Anfechtungsrechts (UMAG) vom 22. September
2005, BGBl. I 2802 ff.).
[5] Urteil
4A_74/2012 vom 18. Juni 2012 E. 5.1 (veröffentlicht am 14. September 2012).
[6] Rolf Watter and Katja Roth Pellanda, Executive Risks: A Boardroom Guide 2010/11, Legal developments for
directors and officers in Switzerland, 162.
[7] „(…) Das Bundesgericht
anerkennt mit der herrschenden Lehre, dass die Gerichte sich bei der
nachträglichen Beurteilung von Geschäftsentscheiden Zurückhaltung aufzuerlegen
haben, die in einem einwandfreien, auf einer angemessenen Informationsbasis
beruhenden und von Interessenkonflikten freien Entscheidprozess zustande
gekommen sind (…).“ Urteil des Bundesgerichts 4A_74/2012 vom 18. Juni 2012 E. 5.1. |
posted Jul 25, 2012, 5:22 AM by Sascha Stocker
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updated Jul 25, 2012, 5:31 AM
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+ Absorptionsfusion, die - merger by absorption + Aktivenüberschuss, der - asset surplus |
posted Jun 2, 2011, 5:39 PM by Sascha Stocker
posted May 31, 2011, 9:38 PM by Sascha Stocker
+ Schiedsspruch, der (Art. 381-388 ZPO) - arbitral award (art. 381-388 SCCP)
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posted May 30, 2011, 6:43 PM by Sascha Stocker
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updated Jun 1, 2011, 5:15 PM
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posted May 30, 2011, 6:06 PM by Sascha Stocker
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updated May 30, 2011, 6:16 PM
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+ Schweizerische Strafprozessordnung vom 5. Oktober 2007 (Strafprozessordnung, StPO) - Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure of 5 October 2007 (Code of Criminal Procedure), available at http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/c312_0.html. + Schweizerisches Strafgesetzbuch vom 21. Dezember 1937 (StGB) - Swiss Criminal Code of 21 December 1937 There is no official English translation of the Code of Criminal Procedure but there is one for the Swiss Criminal Code of 21 December 1937, available at http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/c311_0.html.
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posted May 26, 2011, 12:23 AM by Sascha Stocker
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updated May 26, 2011, 7:03 PM
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+ Schutzlandprinzip, das (z.B. im Urheberrecht) - principle of national protection (e.g. in copyright law) + Auswirkungsprinzip, das (z.B. im Wettbewerbsrecht) - effects-principle (e.g. in competition law)
+ Wahrnehmbarmachung, die (Art. 10 Abs. 2 lit. c URG) - right to make the work available
+ Schrankenbestimmung, die (z.B. Art. 19-28 URG) - limitations on copyright + Grundsatz der Inländergleichbehandlung, der - principle of national treatment
+ Bundesgesetz über das Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte vom 9. Oktober 1992 (Urheberrechtsgesetz, URG, SR 231.1) - Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights of 9 October 1992 (Copyright Act, CopyA, SR 231.1)
The German version of the Copyright Act is available at http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/c231_1.html. However, there is no official English translation available (cf. http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/2.html). |
posted May 25, 2011, 5:21 PM by Sascha Stocker
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updated May 25, 2011, 5:51 PM
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+ Bundesgesetz über Kartelle und andere Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen vom 6. Oktober 1995 (Kartellgesetz, KG, SR 251) - Federal Act on Cartels and other Restraints of Competition of 6 October 1995 (Cartel Act, CartA, SR 251)German version of the Cartel Act: http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/2/251.de.pdf Official English translation of the Cartel Act: http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/2/251.en.pdf Please remember, English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This official translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force. This is SLEDICT's first new word since 1 October 2010. Sorry for the long wait, but I am in Sydney studying (LL.M.). Well, yes we do have internet here... |
posted Oct 1, 2010, 1:35 AM by Sascha Stocker
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+ allgemeines Wahlrecht - universal suffrage |
posted Sep 27, 2010, 3:19 AM by Sascha Stocker
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+ Beweislast, die - onus (of proof)
+ die Beweislast liegt bei jdm. - the onus lies with sb. |
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