ALTENBURGER has long-standing and broad experience in providing legal and tax advice in the areas of insurance as well as banking and other financial services. Our lawyers’ expertise is not only based on their work as external legal advisers to insurance companies, banks and other financial services providers, but also results from experience gained as in-house counsels of such clients.

Our services in insurance cover in particular the following areas: 

• (Re) Insurance supervision 
• Insurance contract law 
• Product development 
• Product taxation 
• Drafting and negotiating contracts (e.g. distribution, service, outsourcing and cooperation agreements) 
• Group (re)structuring (incl. tax aspects) 
• M&A 
• Portfolio transfers 
• Litigation / Arbitration

Over the past few years, we have assisted many insurance companies in their licensing procedure (in Switzerland and Liechtenstein), product development, tax issues etc., and therefore have particular expertise in this respect. Our clients are leading Swiss and foreign direct insurers and reinsurers underwriting life and non-life business. We also advise trading and industrial companies with regard to captive solutions, as well as insurance intermediaries.

Recent cases included the following work:

• Incorporating, respectively establishing, and obtaining a license for various life and non-life insurers as well as reinsurance captives 
• Providing advice in connection with the purchase and sale of various life and non-life insurance companies in Switzerland and in Liechtenstein 
• Advising various life insurance companies in the development of annuities and unit-linked insurance products etc., as well as drawing up their distribution and asset management documentation 
• Advising insurance companies in connection with their cooperation with other insurers, banks, fund management companies etc. 
• Advising various foreign global players in relation to cross-border distribution into Switzerland of insurance and insurance-related products (e.g. catastrophe bonds) 
• Representing a leading Swiss insurer against claims raised by a group of policyholders

Our services in the field of banking & financial services extend in particular to the following:

• Regulatory matters applying to banks and securities dealers (in particular licensing, establishment of a subsidiary or branch and other compliance issues) 
• Supervision of collective investment schemes (in particular structuring, licensing and distribution) 
• Finance (e.g. bilateral and syndicated loans, project finance, trade finance and M&A finance, mezzanine finance) 
• Finance lease, sale and lease back transactions 
• Private equity (e.g. subscription and shareholders' agreements) 
• M&A of banks
• Legal support in connection with administrative and judicial legal assistance 
• Anti-money laundering rules

Our clients are Swiss and foreign investors, banks and securities dealers. Recent cases included the following work:

• Assisting a Swiss bank with the drafting of a loan agreement for a bridge loan to be granted for the financing of a tender offer 
• Providing legal and tax advice in connection with the structuring and licensing of an investment fund in the form of a limited partnership for collective investment schemes 
• Providing legal advice to foreign fund providers and distributors regarding regulatory issues arising in connection with the distribution of investment funds in Switzerland 
• Providing legal advice to a foreign banking group in connection with the acquisitions of a private bank domiciled in Switzerland 
• Assisting foreign investors with the drafting and negotiation of a subscription and a shareholders agreement in connection with the funding of a Swiss based start-up
• Advising an organisation of independent asset managers in setting up its internal guidelines in compliance with the minimum standards for asset management issued by FINMA 

Leonhard Toenz Partner, Zurich

Melissa Gautschi Partner, Zurich

Stéphanie Hodara El Bez Associate, Geneva

Mark Hippenmeyer Associate, Zurich

Dominique Müller Associate, Zurich

Olivier Bloch Associate, Geneva

Lars Hauser Associate, Zurich

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