Principles of governance
The Swiss Study Foundation is a foundation under Swiss law (Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) Art. 80 et seq) and is subject to Federal supervision. The Foundation’s activities are governed by the Swiss Foundation Code and it has an internal control system. The audit is carried out according to the SWISS GAAP FER 21 standard.
All essential questions of foundation management are governed by a clear hierarchy of legal norms (foundation charter – bylaws – internal regulations). The jurisdiction of all the foundation’s roles and the way in which they function are defined. The foundation charter can only be amended by a two-thirds majority of the Foundation Board and in keeping with the Foundation’s purpose. The Foundation Board is competent to revise the bylaws and the internal regulations. These two edicts are periodically updated to reflect changed circumstances.
The Swiss Study Foundation works according to the principle of strategic and operational responsibility. As the senior strategic body, the Foundation Board exercises the key foundation management competences. These are exhaustively regulated in the charter and bylaws. The Foundation Board delegates certain tasks to selected committees and in particular surrenders operational management of the Foundation to the director and his team appointed by the Foundation Board.
