Corporate housekeeping
Having a company, be it a Gmbh/Sàrl or an AG/SA, a number of actions must be taken regularly to ensure the company's administration. Corporate housekeeping refers to the regular actions you need to take to keep your company's administration in order.
Corporate governance is an important issue for startups, and keeping your corporate documents up to date is essential to ensure business growth and legal compliance. This will also facilitate any future due diligence, which will streamline the investor onboarding process.
For some specific topics, having a proper corporate housekeeping schedule is key. An example relates to the election of board members. According to a recent Swiss Federal Court ruling, board members' mandates are not automatically extended, and unless formal re-election by the general assembly takes place, the term ends automatically 6 months after the fiscal year closes. Best practice in this case is to elect board members for a two-year term but re-electing them annually. This way, if the annual general assembly isn’t properly convened or any other issue arises, it can be corrected the following year and the term of the board member does not end in the meantime.
Essentially, you must regularly amend and update your corporate documents to reflect reality. For example, if you move the seat of the company from Zurich to Lausanne, you must hold a general assembly to formally decide on this change, amend the articles of association and notify the Commercial Registers of Zurich and Vaud. A list of the duties of the general meeting can be found here.
Here's what needs to be done:
General assembly: The company holds at least one general assembly per year within six months after the end of the financial year. The board may convene more general assemblies. If all shareholders are present, a spontaneous general assembly may be held.
Board structure: The company has an uneven number of board members or a mechanism in place to prevent voting blockades and ties, such as the chairperson having a casting vote.
Board regulations: If there's more than one board member, board regulations are in place to govern the organization of the board.
Board meetings: Minutes must be kept of board meetings. The minutes must be signed by the chairman of the board and the secretary (or by all board members if it's a circular resolution).
Board members election: Board members are elected for a two-year term and re-elected annually.
Auditor: The company has opted out of the audit obligation or appointed an auditor.
Cap table: The company has and maintains a cap table mentioning the current shareholders and the CLA & SAFE signed by the company.
Share register: The company has and maintains a share register mentioning the shareholders and the ultimate beneficial owners of shareholders holding more than 25% directly or indirectly. The share register is amended after each share transfer.