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- Art. 808c CO
- Transitional provisions to the revision of the Stock Corporation Act of June 19, 2020
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- Art. 31 para. 2 lit. e FADP
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- Art. 2 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 3 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 4 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 5 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
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FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
MEDICAL DEVICES ORDINANCE
CODE OF OBLIGATIONS
FEDERAL LAW ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
LUGANO CONVENTION
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON POLITICAL RIGHTS
CIVIL CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON CARTELS AND OTHER RESTRAINTS OF COMPETITION
FEDERAL ACT ON INTERNATIONAL MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
DEBT ENFORCEMENT AND BANKRUPTCY ACT
FEDERAL ACT ON DATA PROTECTION
CRIMINAL CODE
CYBERCRIME CONVENTION
COMMERCIAL REGISTER ORDINANCE
FEDERAL ACT ON COMBATING MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORIST FINANCING
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
FEDERAL ACT ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER OF CULTURAL PROPERTY
- I. Preliminary remarks
- II. Obligations of the debtor
- III. Obligations of third parties, in particular banks (Art. 222 para. 4 DEBA)
- IV. Duty of disclosure by authorities
- Bibliography
I. Preliminary remarks
1 Art. 222 DEBA regulates the obligation to provide information and surrender assets in bankruptcy. The purpose of this provision is to ensure that the bankruptcy estate is recorded comprehensively and completely so that creditors can be satisfied equally. The duty to provide information and surrender assets is, alongside the duty to attend (Art. 229 DEBA) and the duty to verify claims (Art. 244 DEBA), the only positive obligation of the debtor in bankruptcy proceedings.
2 Both the debtor and third parties must be made aware of the criminal consequences of violating the duty to provide information (Art. 222 para. 6 DEBA). The threat of criminal consequences is an objective condition for criminal liability.
II. Obligations of the debtor
A. Duty to provide information and surrender assets (Art. 222 para. 1 and 2 DEBA)
1. Principle and personal scope of application
3 According to Art. 222 para. 1 DEBA, the debtor is obliged, under penalty of law, to disclose all his assets to the bankruptcy office and to make them available.
4 From a personal perspective, the debtor is subject to the duty to provide information and surrender assets. With regard to the important practical application of companies in bankruptcy, the following applies:
Stock corporation, limited liability company, and cooperative: The organs of the company are subject to the duty to provide information and surrender assets (cf. Art. 30 para. 1 KOV). Any auditors are also covered.
General partnerships and limited partnerships: The partners with unlimited liability who are present and authorized to manage the business are subject to the duty to provide information and surrender assets (see Art. 30 para. 1 KOV).
Association: The members of the executive board are required to provide information and hand over documents.
Foundation: The members of its organs (i.e., in particular the foundation board) are required to provide information and hand over documents.
5 Organs that have resigned or been dissolved remain obliged to provide information for transactions up to the time of their resignation or dissolution. De facto organs are also covered.
6 The bankruptcy office may question other employees who do not hold a position in a governing body, at least as long as the bankruptcy office proceeds informally (i.e., without the threat of punishment).
7 If the debtor has died or fled, these obligations fall to his adult household members (Art. 222 para. 2 DEBA).
2. Subject matter of the obligation to provide information and surrender property
8 The content of the joint debtor's obligation to provide information and surrender property corresponds to the debtor's obligation in attachment proceedings (Art. 91 DEBA; cf. (OK-Marasco-Keller, Art. 91 DEBA N. 10 ff.). In practical terms, this is a comprehensive duty to provide information and surrender assets with regard to assets of all kinds. It applies not only to the actual assets, but also to all documents necessary to make the relevant assets available. The duty to provide information extends to all information that is suitable for determining the existence, scope, and, where applicable, the location of the assets.
9 In terms of time, the bankruptcy office may request information relating to transactions that took place within the period of suspicion for Paulian avoidance actions (i.e., up to five years ago). This case law established for attachment proceedings (see OK-Marasco-Keller, Art. 91 DEBA N. 16) also applies in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy office therefore does not have to demonstrate any particular urgency or prove any suspicion of potentially contestable transactions for information relating to the five-year period of suspicion.
10 The debtor must also provide information (under threat of punishment) about assets located abroad. However, the debtor cannot be forced under threat of punishment to make assets located abroad available to the bankruptcy estate.
11 A further specification of the duty to provide information can be found in Art. 37 KOV, which defines (non-exhaustively) the subject matter of the interrogation by the bankruptcy office. According to this provision, the bankruptcy office must question the debtor in particular about his known creditors, ongoing legal proceedings, existing insurance contracts, any financial claims of children, and his military status.
12 The debtor is not entitled to refuse to provide information on the grounds of alleged exemption from seizure. Information must therefore also be provided about alleged items of competence and assets to which third parties assert claims.
13 Nor can the debtor invoke professional or business secrecy to refuse to provide information.
B. Obligation to open premises and containers (Art. 222 para. 3 DEBA)
14 The debtor must open premises and containers to the bankruptcy official upon request. If necessary, the bankruptcy official may call on the police to enforce this (Art. 222 para. 3 DEBA). Police force may generally be used immediately (i.e., without further court order) (OK-Marasco-Keller, Art. 91 DEBA N. 22 ff.). The bankruptcy office decides on the use of police force, but must observe the principle of proportionality.
III. Obligations of third parties, in particular banks (Art. 222 para. 4 DEBA)
1. Principle and scope of application
15 Third parties who hold the debtor's assets or with whom the debtor has credit balances are subject to the same obligations to provide information and surrender assets as the debtor himself (Art. 222 para. 4 DEBA).
16 The term “third party” is to be understood broadly and includes, in particular, professionals bound by professional secrecy. Banking or attorney-client privilege does not entitle them to refuse to provide information about the debtor's assets (OK-Marasco-Keller, Art. 91 DEBA N. 25).
17 The term “credit balance” is also to be understood broadly. It includes not only traditional “bank assets,” but also all claims of the debtor against third parties. For example, it also includes claims assigned under Art. 260 DEBA, since in this case the assignee has an asset that remains the property of the bankruptcy estate.
2. Requirements for the obligation to provide information
18 In order for the bankruptcy office to be able to oblige a third party to provide information, it must have a suspicion that the third party actually has assets at its disposal. Unlike in the case of attachment, however, bankruptcy is made public and, with the announcement, all third-party debtors are requested (under threat of penalty) to report to the bankruptcy office (Art. 232 para. 2 DEBA).
19 It is controversial whether banks must provide information to the bankruptcy authorities on their own initiative (and thus systematically) after the bankruptcy has been published. Since Art. 232 para. 2 DEBA takes precedence over banking secrecy, there is no reason, in the opinion represented here, to give banks preferential treatment compared to other third-party debtors. In practice, bankruptcy offices usually inform banks of the opening of bankruptcy proceedings by means of specific requests for information, which is why this is primarily a theoretical problem.
20 If a third party is obliged to provide information, this obligation corresponds in content to that of the debtor (Art. 222 para. 4 DEBA). This includes all information that allows conclusions to be drawn about the debtor's financial situation.
21 A third-party debtor must disclose to the bankruptcy office all documents and information that it would have to disclose to the debtor itself on the basis of its relationship with the debtor (e.g. in accordance with Art. 400 CO).
22 Based on Art. 222 DEBA, the bankruptcy office may also request information from an assignee regarding claims assigned pursuant to Art. 260 DEBA.
IV. Duty of disclosure by authorities
23 Authorities are subject to the same duty of disclosure as the debtor (Art. 222 para. 4 DEBA). The duty to provide information under bankruptcy law takes precedence over official secrecy. This applies to all authorities. It is irrelevant whether the authority is federal, cantonal, or municipal, or in which area the authority is active (see OK-Marasco-Keller, Art. 91 DEBA N. 32 ff.).
24 The duty of authorities to provide information only applies insofar as it relates to information that is essential to the bankruptcy proceedings. Any further requests to authorities are inadmissible.
Bibliography
Bovey Grégory, L' Obligation des tiers de renseigner l'office des pousuites et des faillites (art. 91 al. 4 et 222 al 4 LP), in: JdT 2009 II, p. 62 ff.
François Vouilloz, Commentaire de l'art. 222 LP, in: Foëx Bénédict/Jeandin Nicolas/Braconi Andrea/Chappuis Benoît (eds.), Commentaire Romand, Poursuite et faillite (LP), 2 édition, Basel 2025 (zit. CR LP- Vouilloz).
Hagenstein Nadine, Kommentierung zu Art. 323 StGB, in: Niggli Marcel Alexander/Wiprächtiger Hans (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Strafrecht (StGB/JStGB), 4. Aufl., Basel 2018 (zit. BSK StGB-Hagenstein).
Heinel Bastian, Mitwirkungspflichten bei der Konkursmassenfeststellung, in: SJZ 118 (2022), S. 1141 ff.
Kren Kostkiewicz Jolanta, Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursrecht, 4. Aufl., Zürich 2024.
Krüsi Benno, Kommentierung zu Art. 222 SchKG, in: Hunkeler Daniel (Hrsg.), Kurzkommentar, Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursrecht, 3. Aufl., Basel 2025 (zit. KUKO- Krüsi).
Lustenberger Urs/Sergej Schenker, Kommentierung zu Art. 222 SchKG, in: Staehelin Daniel/Bauer Thomas/Lorandi Franco (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Bundesgesetz über Schuldbetreibung und Konkurs, 3., Aufl. 2021 (zit. BSK SchKG-Lustenberger/Schenker).
Rüetschi Sven/Schrober Roger, Kommentierung zu Art. 30 KOV, in: Milani Dominik/Wohlgemuth Marc (Hrsg.), Verordnung über die Geschäftsführung der Konkursämter (KOV) Kommentar, 2016 (zit. Dike Komm. KOV-Rüetschi/Schrober)
Schober Roger/Avdyli-Luginbühl Monika, Kommentierung zu Art. 222 SchKG, in: Kren Kostkiewicz Jolanta/Vock Dominik (Hrsg.), Schulthess Kommentar, Kommentar zum Bundesgesetz über Schuldbetreibung und Konkurs, 4. Aufl., Zürich 2017 (zit. SK-Schober/Avdyli-Luginbühl).
Staehelin Daniel, Die internationale Zuständigkeit der Schweiz im Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursrecht, AJP 1995, S. 259 ff.