The requirements for founding a company or institution in Switzerland are very different, depending on the form of the company or institution. In the following, the prerequisites and concrete procedure are discussed in summary.
Sole proprietorship
You don’t have to do anything else to establish a Sole proprietorship (Ger. «Einzelunternehmen»). It simply comes into being when you start your business activities.
Partnerships
The Simple Partnership (Ger. «einfache Gesellschaft», CO 530 ff.) and the General partnership (Ger. «Kollektivgesellschaft», CO 552 ff.) also come into existence easily when the partners join together to pursue a common purpose by common means, the latter being commercial in the case of the General Partnership and taking place under a common corporate name. With the General Partnership, however, a written partnership agreement is expressly recommended.
The Limited Partnership (Ger. «Kommanditgesellschaft», CO 594 ff.) is founded like the general partnership. As with the latter, a written partnership agreement is also recommended for the limited partnership. In addition, the limited partner must be entered in the commercial register with the amount to which his or her liability is limited (see Chapter 06.03 Closed number of companies). If the partnership does business before this entry is made, the limited partner is, for the debts incurred until then, liable like an unlimited partner (CO 606).
Corporation, LLC, cooperative and foundation
To found a Corporation (Corp.; Ger. «Aktiengesellschaft» short «AG», CO 620 ff.), a Limited liability company (LLC; Ger. «Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung» short «GmbH», CO 772 ff.) or a Cooperative (Ger. «Genossenschaft», CO 828 ff.), the founders must declare the foundation in a public deed before a notary public – a state-authorised person who authenticates legal transactions – and, in this deed, adopt the statutes and appoint the governing bodies (CO 629, CO 777, CO 830). A Foundation (Ger. «Stiftung», CC 80 ff.) is set up by public deed or by will; the foundation charter also determines its governing bodies (CC 81, CC 83). In addition, the foundation of a respective company or institution requires a company or institution name, a purpose and in the case of a Corporation or Limited liability company the minimum capital: CHF 100,000 for the Corporation (CO 621), of which at least 20 % of each share and at least CHF 50,000 in total must be paid in (CO 632), and CHF 20,000 for the LLC, which must be fully paid in (CO 777c). The money is paid into a blocked account at a Swiss bank, which releases it only once the company is entered in the commercial register (CO 633). Finally, the foundation is filed with the cantonal commercial register (s. Chapter 06.04 Swiss commercial register) for registration of the company or institution. For practical reasons, it is best to contact a notary public immediately. The notary will explain to you what information you need for the foundation of the company or institution, take care of the preparation of the documents, organise a notarisation appointment and, depending on the canton, register the foundation with the relevant commercial register.
In Switzerland and Germany, a corporation or a limited liability company cannot be founded without a notary (§ 23 AktG, § 2 GmbHG). In the United Kingdom, by contrast, a private limited company (Ltd) is registered online at Companies House, usually within 24 hours, currently for GBP 100; no notary is involved (gov.uk; Companies Act 2006, s. 9).
Association
It is very easy to found an Association (Ger. «Verein», CC 60 ff.). You take a piece of paper, write the statutes (s. the model statutes with commentary, in German, of the Commercial Register Office of the Canton of Zurich), which must be in writing and state the purpose, the resources and the organisation of the association (CC 60). The statutes must then be approved by the general meeting. That’s it! An entry in the commercial register is only necessary for an Association that runs a commercial enterprise, is subject to audit or mainly collects or distributes funds abroad (CC 61; s. Chapter 06.03 Closed number of companies).