News
Responsibility in partnership instead of confrontation
By Thomas Wellauer, Chairman of ICC Switzerland and Chairman of Board of Directions SIX Group
This was published as an article in the Bündner Tagblatt on Friday 13 November 2020. See article here.
The vote on the Corporate Responsibility Initiative (UVI) has a special significance for ICC Switzerland. For over one hundred years, the "International Chamber of Commerce" ICC has been working for "peace and prosperity through trade and investment". Today it is represented in almost 100 countries and is the only private organization to be an observer member of the UN. ICC Switzerland forms the bridge from Switzerland to this global network.
Responsible entrepreneurship is important to ICC Switzerland. ICC thus supports the high standards of due diligence associated with it. For example, the ICC guidelines for international investments call on investing companies to respect the human rights of those affected by their activities worldwide in accordance with UN principles.
ICC Switzerland therefore supports the indirect counter-proposal (CDR) to the UVI of the Federal Council and Parliament. This proposal tightens the duty of care for companies. It goes beyond the EU rules and combines the rules of the UK and the Netherlands, for example. It is based on well-known instruments. With the new mandatory reporting, the measures become verifiable for third parties. The CDR thus positions Switzerland in an internationally coordinated manner. It comes into force if the initiative is rejected.
For more than 30 years, the ICC Institute of World Business Law has been enhancing ties between the academic world and practising lawyers.
Launched in 2007, the Institute created the Institute Prize as a means to encourage focused research on legal issues affecting international business. Contributing to the understanding and progress of international commercial law around the world, the Institute Prize recognises legal writing excellence.
The ICC Institute of World Business Law is pleased to announce that the 8th edition of the ICC Institute Prize will take place in 2021. The ICC Institute Prize awards 10,000 EUR to an excellent thesis in the field of international commercial law including arbitration. The Prize Ceremony will take place following the Annual Conference of the ICC Institute of World Business Law.
The Institute Prize is open to anyone 40 years of age or under as of deadline date who submits a doctoral dissertation or long essay (minimum of 150 pages) drafted in French or English on the subject of international commercial law, including arbitration.
To participate in the ICC Institute Prize, please pre register here.
ICC's 6th Geneva Business Dialogue in it's hybrid form was a success and we are very pleased to offer you the video recording of the event now:
To stimulate and facilitate dialogue among international organisations and the respective diplomatic representations in Geneva, we continued our Geneva Business Dialogues. We were pleased with the discussions on the topic of “The Role of Multinationals in the Economic Recovery”. A very warm thank you to our speakers and participants! Thank you all for a successful evening with a very interesting and engaging panel discussion.
ICC hat eine deutsche Version der „ICC Force Majeure and Hardship Clauses 2020“ veröffentlicht. Mit der Aufnahme der Klauseln in ihre internationale Verträge treffen Unternehmen eine klare Regelung für den Fall, dass eine Vertragspartei aufgrund von höherer Gewalt nicht liefern kann. Erstmals hat die ICC auch eine kürzere, vereinfachte Fassung veröffentlicht, die sich insbesondere an kleinere und mittelständische Unternehmen richtet.
Der höheren Gewalt ("Force Majeure") werden im internationalen Handel unvorhersehbare, unabwendbare Ereignisse zugeordnet, die außerhalb der Kontrolle aller an einem Handelsgeschäft Beteiligten liegen und die unter den gegebenen Umständen mit angemessenen, zumutbaren Mitteln nicht zu vermeiden waren. Dazu gehören z.B. Kriege, Bürgerkriege, Revolutionen, Erdbeben, Hurrican, Feuer oder Pandemien. In diesen Fällen entfällt die Lieferverpflichtung.
Force Majeure wird je nach den von der jeweiligen nationalen Gesetzgebung entwickelten Grundsätze jedoch höchst unterschiedlich interpretiert. Daher bietet die ICC eine Force Majeure-Klausel an, um Vertragspartner die Einigung auf eine international akzeptierten Text zu erleichtern.
6th Geneva Business Dialogue - The Role of Multinationals in the Economic Recovery
To stimulate and facilitate dialogue among international organisations and the respective diplomatic representations in Geneva, ICC Switzerland continues its Geneva Business Dialogue with a series of high-ranking roundtables. We are pleased to invite you to the sixth of such discussions, on the topic of the role of multinationals in the economic recovery after COVID-19. We strive for an action oriented and forward-looking debate. The event takes place alongside Geneva Trade Week 2020.
Date: 30th September 2020
Venue: Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Geneva
Kindly find more information in the programme as well as more information on the speakers. If you are interested in participating, please register here and send the complited form to
