Swiss holding company: Consolidating financial statements
Every Swiss holding company must establish consolidated accounts according to the Swiss Code of Obligations.
Consolidation means aggregating annual reports from the different companies which make up the group to obtain a single annual report describing the situation of the group.
In terms of Swiss accounting law, two or more companies form a group if they meet the following two conditions:
- If these companies are held more than 50%
- And if they share a similar direction
Small groups are exempt from consolidating their accounts and are defined as having two of the three following criteria:
- A total balance sheet less than 10,000,000 CHF;
- Fewer than 200 employees
- A turnover of less than 20,000,000 CHF;
The company must also conform to the following conditions in addition to two of those listed above:
- The company must not have shared quoted on the stock market nor be responsible for the payment of a loan
- No shareholder owning more than 10% capital must demand consolidation.
References: Article 663e CO of the Swiss Code of Obligations