Author Archives: Benedikt Maurenbrecher
DLT Draft Law – Insolvency Law Aspects
One key element of the DLT Draft Law concerns the question of how crypto-based assets are treated in bankruptcy. When it comes to storing such assets there are basically two options: either the owner of the crypto-based assets stores the tokens him/herself, or the tokens are stored by a third party custodian. Under current Swiss law, it is not clear whether crypto-based assets held by a custodian on behalf of a client will be segregated in bankruptcy. The DLT Draft Law therefore proposes to introduce a new insolvency regime that will allow for such segregation.
By Benedikt Maurenbrecher / Urs Meier (Reference: CapLaw-2020-03)
Replacement of LIBOR – An Approach for the Swiss retail lending market
The discontinuation of LIBOR, announced for the end of 2021, is foreseeable. At the same time, for lack of suitable alternatives, LIBOR is still the dominant reference rate in the Swiss retail lending market for floating rate borrowings. As a result, Swiss banks active in the mortgage lending market already now face the challenge to provide for a transition to a successor rate when entering into new contracts. And the same challenge exists generally, both in the retail and the institutional market.
By René Bösch / Benedikt Maurenbrecher (Reference: CapLaw-2019-04)
Covered Bonds
While traditional (statutory) Pfandbriefe still dominate the Swiss covered bond market, the avenue of structured (contractual) covered bonds has recently been explored when first UBS (in 2009) and then Credit Suisse (in 2010) established their respective covered bond programs and presents an alternative for Swiss mortgage lenders seeking for flexibility and an improved access to international institutional investors. This article describes the key features of Swiss structured covered bonds.