The Competition Act 1995

Merger control was first introduced in Switzerland in the Federal Act on Cartels and other Restraints of Competition of 6 October 1995 (‘the Competition Act 1995’, or ‘Acart’), which entered into force on 1 July 1996. The basic principles of Swiss merger control are contained in Articles 9 to 11 (substantive assessment) and in Articles 32 to 38 (procedure) of the Competition Act 1995.

The Competition Act 1995 was partly amended on 20 June 2003, with effect from 1 April 2004. The main purpose of this amendment was to confer upon the Swiss competition authorities the power to issue direct sanctions – that is, administrative fines – in the case of enterprises being found to have entered into a hardcore cartel or to have committed an abuse of a dominant position. As far as merger control is concerned, this amendment did not contain any changes, except concerning the special turnover thresholds in the banking and media sectors.

The Merger Control Ordinance

The Swiss Federal Council adopted an Ordinance on the Control of Merger of Enterprises (‘the Merger Control Ordinance’, or ‘MCO’) on 17 June 1996. The Merger Control Ordinance entered into force on 1 July 1996. The Merger Control Ordinance has also been partly amended, with effect from 1 April 2004, in relation to the special turnover thresholds in the banking and media sectors.