NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Tyco International Ltd., the world's biggest maker of security systems, and oil refinery designer Foster Wheeler Ltd. said they are considering relocating from Bermuda to Switzerland, where tax laws may be more favourable.

Legislation in the US Congress "targets companies that are domiciled in countries like Bermuda", jeopardising government contracts, Tyco International said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Foster Wheeler said yesterday its shareholders will vote in January on a proposed move to Zug, Switzerland.

Weatherford International Ltd., an oilfield services provider domiciled in Bermuda and run from Houston, also said yesterday its board approved a move to Switzerland. Shareholders will vote on the proposal at a special meeting and the company expects to the change to take place early next year.

Both Tyco and Foster currently are based in Bermuda and operate out of cities in New Jersey. Congress is considering rules to tighten restrictions on companies headquartered in countries that don't have full tax treaties with the US, as Switzerland does. A Government Accountability Office report in September said that about 80 percent of US-based companies with foreign profits in 2004 paid no federal income tax on those earnings.

"The tax treaty between the US and Switzerland has been in place for more than 50 years and it provides a predictable and stable mechanism for determining what taxes are due in each country," Paul Fitzhenry, a Tyco International spokesman, said in an interview. There would be little change in exist rates, he said.

Tyco International's shareholders will be asked to vote in favour of the proposal at a special general meeting to be held on March 12, at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, the company said yesterday in a statement.

Tyco International, run from West Windsor, New Jersey, rose 13 cents to $22.57 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Foster Wheeler, which operates from Clinton, New Jersey, gained $2.52 to $26.05 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Foster Wheeler got two-thirds of its revenue of $5.11 billion from Europe last year and said Switzerland provides a more central location to its customers there and in the Middle East.

In Switzerland, the "tax world there is more established compared with Bermuda", said Sameer Rathod, an analyst with Macquarie Capital in New York who has an "outperform" rating on Foster Wheeler. "The laws and regulations are much more developed."

Tyco International split into three companies last year, spinning off Tyco Electronics Ltd. as well as Covidien Ltd., its healthcare arm. Tyco Electronics, which is domiciled in Bermuda and operates from Berwyn, Pennsylvania, won't say whether it's deciding to move as well unless it decides do to so, spokeswoman Sheri Woodruff said.

"As a matter of Tyco Electronics policy, we do not discuss board governance matters," Woodruff said in an interview.

Tyco International got 52 percent of its $20.2 billion in revenue in the year ended in September from outside the US. In today's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the compnay said the move will also bring it closer to its European customers. Tyco previously considered moving to the US from Bermuda in 2003 and 2004 and shareholders decided to stay.

Ingersoll-Rand Co., based in Hamilton, Bermuda, "has no plans to move its place of incorporation", spokesman Paul Dickard said in a telephone interview. The refrigeration equipment and air conditioner maker operates out of Piscataway, New Jersey.

Transocean Inc., the world's largest offshore oil driller, said in October it was moving executive offices to Geneva from the Cayman Islands because of Switzerland's tax structure and central location. Insurance giant Ace Ltd. moved its holding company from the Caymans to Zurich in July to benefit from the Swiss regulatory and legal structure.