Law: contracts, compliance, arbitration

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Geneva’s law firms are an essential component of the cluster. They draft the sale, financing, chartering and storage contracts. They advise on sanctions, anti-money laundering, corruption and corporate criminal liability, fields that Part H will describe. They accompany traders in their dealings with the Swiss and foreign authorities. They plead in arbitrations and before the courts, and several Geneva practitioners sit as arbitrators in trading disputes.

Part F described Geneva’s position as a seat of arbitration, founded on Chapter 12 of the Federal Act on Private International Law and on the Swiss Arbitration Centre.¹ Trading disputes — over quality, quantity, delays, force majeure and sanctions — account for a significant share of this activity. The proximity between the traders, their banks, the inspectors and the lawyers makes it possible to handle disputes with a concrete knowledge of the transactions.

The law of commodity trading has become considerably more complex over the past decade. Sanctions, due diligence obligations in the fields of human rights and the environment, transparency requirements for payments to governments, the minimum taxation of large groups and criminal proceedings have created a demand for specialist legal advice, to which the Geneva firms have responded by building dedicated teams. This expertise is an asset of the cluster that competing centres cannot easily reproduce.

Notes

Chambre de commerce bernoise, “Arbitrage”, bern-cci.ch (accessed September 2026). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

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Law: contracts, compliance, arbitration

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?