Economic Change
The third pillar "Economic Change" includes the following topics:
Research Project: Influence of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on Swiss Accounting and Corporate Law The research area deals with the question of how the international accounting standard IFRS affects the Swiss legal system. Individual projects deal, among other things, with the classification of IFRS as a standard of international self-regulation as recognized commercial principles of Swiss law, the conception of uniform financial statements that satisfy both IFRS and the requirements of commercial law accounting regulations, and the compatibility of internal financial reporting in accordance with IFRS with requirements of Swiss company law.
This research area is devoted to the fundamental changes that Swiss economic administrative law is undergoing as a result of the globalization of the economy and legal developments at the international level. Thus, Switzerland increasingly enters into obligations under international economic law (e.g. WTO agreements or bilateral agreements with the EU) and transfers administrative competences to international bodies (e.g. OECD, Financial Stability Board), whose guidelines are then incorporated into Swiss law. This general development is analyzed for various sub-areas of public economic law (including financial market supervision, product regulations, food and drug law), also with a view to the fundamental question of the extent to which Switzerland is still in a position to make sovereign decisions on its economic legislation against the backdrop of its strong international linkages.
In many areas of economic law, Switzerland is particularly closely intertwined with the European Union and is strongly affected by the provisions of European economic law, in whose enactment and content it is not directly involved. This research area examines the resulting challenges for the creation and application of Swiss business law, both in principle and with regard to individual issues, such as legal questions of equivalence recognition of Swiss financial market regulations by the EU.
This research area addresses legal issues raised in the field of business law by the ever-increasing importance of information exchange, processing and use, namely in the course of digitalization. Among other things, the legal framework for the handling of personal data (data protection), for the regulatory use of making information publicly available (transparency) and legal protection mechanisms in this context (accountability and liability standards) are examined.