Capital stock, bearer shares or registered shares
A corporation must have a capital stock of at least 100'000 CHF. The capital stock can be divided into bearer and/or registered shares. The nominal value of these shares must be at least 10 CHF. During incorporation at least 20 per cent of the nominal value must be paid for each share, however, altogether at least 50'000 CHF.
Shares cannot be issued in case of not fully paid up capital stock and they will be held by the trustee as semi-paid up shares.
The administrative board of the Corporation always holds one share as proof of shareholder.
It is possible to issue a part of the capital stock as so-called participation certificates. Essentially, these are shares without voting rights.
For the foundation of a corporation at least three shareholders (natural or legal entities) are necessary whereby two of them may hold the shares in trust. To the extent the shareholders are natural persons, it is irrelevant from the company point of view whether they are Swiss nationals or foreigners. On the other hand, a foundation may be complicated if one or more pre-foundation shareholders are foreign companies. Therefore it is recommended to authorize natural persons for the foundation and to transfer the shares after foundation if necessary to foreign legal entities.