Kapitalmarktrecht im Fokus 2025 - Conference Report

The inaugural 2025 edition of Kapitalmarktrecht im Fokus, a conference co-hosted by the University of St. Gallen's Institute for Law and Economics and CapLaw, gathered practitioners, regulators and academics to discuss two issues that are hotly debated in Swiss capital-markets practice: (i) the disclosure duties of underwriters and syndicate banks and (ii) the handling of insider information in M&A and capital-markets transactions. In two thematically focused panels, the speakers analyzed the statutory framework, explained practical frictions and debated possible reforms. Particular attention was devoted to the abolition of the former blanket disclosure exemption for underwriting syndicates, the pending revision of the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FinMIA), the interaction between disclosure law and ad-hoc publicity and the narrow safe harbors for market soundings and selective information sharing. The following report summarizes the main arguments and take-aways for readers who could not attend.