Switzerland

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Financial Reporting Framework in Switzerland

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union and, therefore, is not subject to the EU IAS Regulation or Accounting Directives.

The Swiss Foundation for Accounting and Reporting publishes accounting standards (ARR/FER, oy wr 'Swiss GAAP'). Compliance with ARR/FER is required by all companies. However, compliance with IFRSs ensures compliance with ARR/FER, and many large Swiss companies have, for a number of years, followed IASs/IFRSs.

Starting with annual reports for 2005 and interim reports for 2006, most Swiss companies whose equity shares are listed on the main board of the Swiss Exchange are required to prepare their financial statements using either IFRSs or US GAAP. Swiss GAAP will not be permitted.

The only exception is for Swiss companies listed on the main board that are not multinational (that is, operate primarily in Switzerland). Those companies may continue to use the Swiss GAAP, or they may choose IFRSs or US GAAP.

Foreign listed companies may continue to use a national GAAP that the Exchange deems to be equivalent to IFRS or US GAAP.

Of the 238 companies whose primary securities listing is on the SIX Swiss Exchange in January 2015, 130 companies are seeking capital from 'international investors'. 118 of these report under IFRS, 10 under US GAAP. Of the 79 companies seeking capital from 'Swiss domestic investors' only 7 report under IFRS while the majority (51 companies) reports under Swiss GAAP FER.

IAS Plus in German

Deloitte Germany offers a German translation of IAS Plus including all news stories and background material. The information is supplemented with news from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein: www.iasplus.com/de. There is also an overview of all German language publications available on the site.

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.