Author Archives: Dieter Grünblatt

Share Buy-backs – Reloaded | Insights into Selected Areas of Publicly Announced Share Buy-backs by Swiss Companies

Arbitrageurs are important players in the buy-back market, primarily because of certain tax considerations. One important driver is the repurchase price a company is permitted to offer in a share buy-back. Particular attention should be placed to secondary market transactions during a share buy-back (e.g., sales of ADRs). Novelties include VWAP-based buy-back programs and buy-backs executed via Dutch auction. 

By Hansjürg Appenzeller / Dieter Grünblatt (Reference: CapLaw-2019-17)

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.