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With the new Federal Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities and the Identification of Beneficial Owners (LETA), Switzerland is establishing, for the first time, a central electronic register of the beneficial owners of companies (transparency register). The LETA, the related ordinance (LETO) and the revised Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) will enter into force on 1 October 2026.

Switzerland's new transparency regime for legal entities and beneficial owners enters into force on 1 October 2026, requiring companies to identify, verify, document and report their beneficial owners to a federal Transparency Register. With short transition periods and practical implications for banks, financial intermediaries and advisers, organizations need to understand who is affected, what must be reported, how the register will operate, and what steps to take now to prepare for compliance.

Companies undergoing financial restructuring often focus on balance sheet repair and liquidity preservation. Yet the tax consequences of restructuring measures can be just as significant as their corporate law effects. Depending on how contributions, debt waivers or recovery rights are structured and recorded in the accounts, the same economic outcome may trigger different consequences for corporate income tax, issuance stamp tax and capital contribution reserves.