What the centre of law brings to the financial centre

Geneva as a centre of law brings several essential elements to Geneva as a financial centre.

The first is legal certainty. A client who entrusts assets to Geneva, a trader who establishes a head office there, an investor who structures shareholdings there, all know that disputes can be decided according to predictable rules, by competent courts and arbitrators, within reasonable time, and that the decisions will be enforced. This certainty has been one of the foundations of the financial centre since the medieval fairs.

The second is neutrality. A seat of arbitration in Geneva offers foreign parties a guarantee of impartiality that continues the tradition of the Alabama. This neutrality also applies to the negotiations and mediations held in the city.

The third is expertise. The concentration of lawyers, arbitrators, experts, judges and academics specialising in international business law, banking law, trading law and arbitration is a resource on which the financial centre and the trading sector draw daily.

The fourth is economic activity. Arbitration, litigation and international legal advice generate fees, visits, jobs and tax revenue. They form part of the ecosystem described in Part E.

This relationship carries a requirement. Geneva’s reputation as a centre of law rests on the quality of its courts, the independence of its arbitrators and the integrity of its practitioners. The cases in which Geneva lawyers lent their assistance to questionable structures, revealed by international data leaks, damage that reputation. The revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which subjects certain advisory activities of lawyers to its obligations, is aimed precisely at preserving the credibility of the centre of law.¹

Notes

“Blanchiment d’argent en Suisse : nouvelles obligations du conseiller” (Money laundering in Switzerland: new obligations for advisers), Croce & Associés, 20 October 2025. ↩

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.

English

Contact

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.

Get in touch →

What the centre of law brings to the financial centre

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?