Shortly before a company collapses, its finances are reviewed one last time and funds are distributed. It is not uncommon for the remaining funds to be channelled not equally amongst all those who stand to benefit, but rather in a targeted manner – for example, to favoured suppliers, to the bank for which the managing director has provided a personal guarantee, or to a related company. The remaining creditors are often left with a certificate of loss. Swiss law addresses this behaviour on two levels simultaneously: under criminal law through the offence of undue preference to creditors in Article 167 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC), and under enforcement law through the avoidance action under Article 285 et seq. of the Swiss Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (DEBA), known as the ‘Pauliana’. The following article focuses on the criminal law aspect.