04 September 2024 I Briefing
Legal Privilege in Internal Investigations – Recent Swiss FSC Rulings
In two recent rulings, both dated 6 August 2024, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (FSC) addressed critical issues regarding the applicability and scope of legal privilege in internal investigations. The FSC affirmed the applicability of attorney-client privilege for internal investigation reports and clears doubts that had existed based on earlier FSC-rulings. The court also found that a voluntary disclosure of such findings to a regulator does not constitute a waiver of client-attorney privilege. However, the FSC further held that client-attorney privilege does not extend to the third party to whom documents were disclosed. In the cases at hand, this meant that the bank concerned could successfully invoke privilege, but the Prosecutor's Office could obtain the information it was seeking from FINMA.