What ist Lex Koller?
Lex Koller is a federal law that regulates the purchase of real estate by foreign individuals. The law goes all the way back to the 1980’s when it was first introduced.
Lex Koller
The federal law Lex Koller impedes the purchase of real estate for foreign natural persons and legal entities. As a result, an individual who is interested in buying property must ask for permission from the canton in question. However, according to Art. 2 BewG the need for permission can be disregarded if the site in question is needed as manufacturing facility for a firm or acts as principal residence for a natural person. The exact regulation regarding these exceptions can be found in Art. 7 BewG.
The acquisition of real estate can take many different forms. On one hand, the purchase of the property itself, of a building legislation, life estate or usufruct all count as acquisition of real estate. On the other hand, the purchase of property or usufruct through shares of a legal entity can also be seen as purchase of real estate. However, this is only the case if it is the primary goal of the entity to acquire real estate. Art. 6 BewG defines when a dominant position is held in a legal entity. This is the case when more than two thirds of the shares are held.
The allocation for the amount of permissions granted by each canton for the purchase of holiday apartments and apartment hotels is announced by the Federal Council every year. However, the cantons are not bound to a minimum amount of permissions and can enact stronger restrictions.
When entering into the commercial register the person responsible is required to sign Lex Koller. If a corporation is established for the purpose of avoiding Lex Koller it is qualified as unlawful. According to Art. 18 BewG, after a registration the commercial registration agency is obliged to conduct an examination.
