joint stock company (AG)

  • About the joint stock company

    What is a corporation?

    The joint stock company (AG) is a company with its own legal personality, with one or more persons who contribute a certain amount of capital and thereby are shareholders.

    There are advantages and disadvantages of forming a corporation. The advantages include the possibility to exclude any personal liability to your private wealth, the possibility to have several share-holders, the easy transfer of shares, the anonymity of the share-holders, an increased creditworthiness. On the other hand, the disadvantages of a corporation include a high minimum capital, strict requirements for compliance with company law provisions, taxation at the level of AG and shareholders (double taxation)

    The most important points for founding an AG in Switzerland are:

    • capital required at least CHF 100,000 (of which CHF 50,000 paid )
    • number of shareholders at least one person
    • a company name made-up name is possible, but the addition of "AG" is mandatory
    • auditors compulsory only from 10 employees
    • VAT duty compulsory only from sales of CHF 100,000 or more, however a voluntary designation is possible
    • period prior to the entry depending on the canton 10 days - 4 weeks (express procedure can be as short as 5 days)
    • formation expenses depending on the provider CHF 2'500 - 7'000 (excl. commercial register entry )