Partial revision of Federal Act on Insurance Contracts. In 2013 the Federal Parliament rejected a bill for a total revision of the Federal Act on Insurance Contracts, with an order to the Federal Council to elaborate a partial revision on selected subjects. The Federal Council drafted an amended bill and recently initiated consultation proceedings on the proposals.

Amended rules on insurance supervision. The revised Insurance Supervisory Law has been in effect since January 1 2006. The need for further revision has been revealed through lessons learned from the global economic and financial crisis and the introduction of risk-based solvency measuring methods including:
the Swiss Solvency Test;
the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority’s 2011 equivalence test; and
l the Financial Sector Assessment Programme of the International Monetary Fund’s 2013 analysis.

Nanotechnology – can insurance play a role in regulation? Nanomaterials are often referred to as the key technology of the 21st century. However, the effects of nanoparticles, especially in the long term, are unknown due to a lack of scientific data. This uncertainty represents a major challenge for both the legislature and the insurance industry if they play a role in regulation.

Supreme Court decides on ambiguous clauses in general insurance terms. The Federal Supreme Court recently issued a decision(1) on the rule of ambiguity in the context of the interpretation of general insurance terms. The court found that a provision which excludes accidents as a result of the deliberate causation of a crime or offence is neither considered unusual nor ambiguous, and can therefore be validly be relied upon by the insurer.

General insurance terms integral to insurance agreement. In a recent decision the Federal Supreme Court held that general terms and conditions can be included in an insurance contract, even if the application makes no reference to the date of the terms and conditions and it remains unclear which version is applicable.

Insurance fraud through omission – qualified duty to act required. In a recently published decision the Federal Supreme Court quashed a criminal verdict of the Supreme Court of the Canton of Basel-Country and held that insurance fraud by omission requires a qualified duty of the perpetrator to act.