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Establishing a Swiss Family Foundation. Service offer

A Swiss family foundation is considered a separate legal entity and has to meet certain requirements. For a family foundation to be established, it is necessary to get approval from a special supervisory body called the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (FSAF).

Contents

  1. Advantages of a Swiss family foundation
  2. Registration procedure
  3. Time frame
  4. Fees[1]

Advantages of a Swiss family foundation

Foreign participation: foreigners from anywhere in the world can set up foundations with foreign founders and beneficiaries;

Low taxes;

No reporting: family foundations are exempt from filing their financial statements with any government authorities.

Registration procedure

  1. Corporate documents are prepared (in particular the Foundation Charter, with a clearly defined purpose and intentions).
  2. Draft corporate documents are sent to the FSAF for approval.
  3. A foundation is required to have a minimum capital of CHF 50 000 in order to be registered. A blocked bank account is opened to deposit the capital in and a bank letter is obtained to confirm that.
  4. A foundation is required to have a Swiss registered office and a Swiss director, to be registered.
  5. After the draft corporate documents are approved by the FSAF and the capital is deposited in the blocked bank account, a visit to the notary can be arranged because the Foundation Charter and Regulations need to be notarised before submission to the Trade Register.
  6. The documents are submitted to the Trade Register and after their invoice is paid, the foundation is entered into the Trade Register.

After the registration, the foundation proceeds to open an account and transfer there the capital from the blocked account.

Time frame

The approximate time to establish a family foundation is 3 months.

Before proceeding with a family foundation, we recommend obtaining a Legal Opinion from local attorneys regarding the formation of a family foundation, the specifics of Swiss regulatory requirements, and possible risks.

Fees[1]

Services
Fees (CHF)
Basic cost of establishing a family foundation:

- INCLUDES establishing a foundation, liaising with the Federal Authority for Supervision of Foundations, preparation and provision of original corporate documents, support in opening a blocked account for depositing the capital;

- DOES NOT INCLUDE out-of-pocket expenses (registration fees, notarial fees, etc.).
19 000 (on average)
Trade Register and notarial fees
from 2 200
Federal Authority for Supervision of Foundations fees
from 1 430 to 5 720
Swiss director (for 1 year)
13 200
Registered office in Zug/Zurich (for 1 year)
4 620
Obtaining a Legal Opinion from local attorneys
from 6 600
Compliance fee
Payable in the cases of:
- incorporation of a company / foundation,
- renewal of a company / foundation,
- liquidation of a company / foundation,
- transfer out of a company / foundation,
- issue of a power of attorney to a new attorney,
- change of director / shareholder / beneficial owner, except the change to a nominee director / shareholder,
- signing of documents.
385 (standard rate, includes the check of 1 individual)
+ 165 for each additional individual (director, shareholder, or beneficial owner) or legal entity (director or shareholder) if such legal entity is administered by GSL
+ 220 for each additional legal entity (director or shareholder) if such legal entity is not administered by GSL
495 (rate for high-risk companies, includes the check of 1 individual)
110 (signing of documents)
Preparation and submission of non-dormant financial statements
based on time spent

[1] The fees are valid as of September 2025.

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from CHF 19 385
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