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- Art. 75b FC
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- Art. 96 para. 1 FC
- Art. 96 para. 2 lit. a FC
- Art. 110 FC
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- Art. 143 CO
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- Art. 633 CO
- Art. 701 CO
- Art. 715 CO
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- Art. 734f CO
- Art. 785 CO
- Art. 786 CO
- Art. 787 CO
- Art. 788 CO
- Art. 808c CO
- Transitional provisions to the revision of the Stock Corporation Act of June 19, 2020
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- Art. 2 PRA
- Art. 3 PRA
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- Art. 90 PRA
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- Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 2 FADP
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- Art. 4 FADP
- Art. 5 lit. d FADP
- Art. 5 lit. f und g FADP
- Art. 6 para. 3-5 FADP
- Art. 6 Abs. 6 and 7 FADP
- Art. 7 FADP
- Art. 10 FADP
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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)
- Art. 6 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 7 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 8 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 9 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
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- Art. 12 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 16 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 18 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 25 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 27 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 28 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
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- Art. 32 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 33 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 34 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
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- Art. 2 para. 1 AMLA
- Art. 2a para. 1-2 and 4-5 AMLA
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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. Prerequisites for attachment
- II. Time of attachment
- II. Jurisdiction (in particular, location of assets)
- III. Enforcement
- Bibliography
I. Prerequisites for attachment
1 In order for an attachment to take place in accordance with Art. 89 f. DEBA, the following prerequisites must be met:
(i) The debtor must be subject to debt enforcement proceedings. If the debtor is subject to bankruptcy proceedings and the debt enforcement proceedings are nevertheless carried out, the attachment is void. If enforcement proceedings for attachment are initiated for a claim secured by a pledge, the debtor may lodge an appeal (Art. 17 DEBA) requesting that the creditor first make use of the pledge (Art. 41 para. 1bis DEBA; known as “beneficium excussionis realis”).
(ii) A creditor submits a request for continuation in due time and form (cf. Art. 88 DEBA).
II. Time of attachment
2 According to the wording of the law, the attachment must be carried out “without delay.” This provision is a procedural rule. A violation of this provision, for example due to delayed action by the debt enforcement office, has no effect on the legality of the attachment proceedings.
3 In practice, if the debt enforcement office delays action, the creditor's only recourse is to file a complaint for delay (Art. 17 DEBA) and, if applicable, a claim for state liability (Art. 5 DEBA).
4 The creditor has no influence on the time of the seizure. A request to postpone the attachment to a later date specified by the creditor is not permitted.
II. Jurisdiction (in particular, location of assets)
A. General
5 The debt enforcement office at the place of enforcement is responsible for ordering the attachment (Art. 46 ff. DEBA).
6 The debt enforcement office at the location of the assets to be seized is responsible for executing the seizure. If assets are located outside the jurisdiction of the debt enforcement office at the place of enforcement, the competent office must request legal assistance from the debt enforcement office at the relevant location in order to carry out the seizure (so-called requisition seizure; Art. 4 DEBA).
7 The provision on the execution of seizure (Art. 275 DEBA) does not explicitly refer to Art. 89 DEBA in its current version. Nevertheless, Art. 89 DEBA is also applicable mutatis mutandis to the execution of seizure. The planned amendment to Art. 275 DEBA, which inserts a reference to Art. 89 DEBA, will codify this case law.
8 This order of jurisdiction is mandatory. A seizure by an office that does not have jurisdiction is null and void.
9 Only assets in Switzerland can be seized, not those abroad. Under certain circumstances, however, a mandatory claim for the transfer of ownership of foreign assets may be seized (e.g., a claim for the surrender of securities held abroad).
B. Location of different assets
10 Movable property: Seizure takes place at the location where the item is physically located.
11 Claims against debtors domiciled in Switzerland: Claims against debtors domiciled in Switzerland that are not secured by securities are deemed to be located at the domicile of the debtor (as the creditor of the corresponding claim). In all cases, a claim attachment can be enforced by the debt enforcement office at the (ordinary or special) place of enforcement. This remains the case even if the enforcement debtor moves after the attachment has been announced (Art. 53 DEBA). A seizure by way of legal assistance is not necessary.
12 In special cases, namely in the case of wage claims, the debt enforcement office at the place of enforcement may also request the debt enforcement office at the place of residence of the judgment debtor to carry out the attachment if the place of residence and the place of enforcement are different and further clarifications are necessary in the context of enforcement.
13 Claims against debtors residing abroad: Claims against debtors residing abroad are deemed to be located at the third-party debtor's place of residence in Switzerland. The claim is also deemed to be located at the Swiss place of residence of the third-party debtor if it belongs to the foreign branch of this third-party debtor. Actual involvement of the Swiss third-party debtor in the customer relationship between the foreign branch and the foreign enforcement debtor is not a prerequisite for attachment.
14 Claims of joint and several creditors: Claims of joint creditors (e.g., joint accounts) may be seized by each individual joint creditor for payment of the entire amount. Each of these claims therefore has its own place of location at the domicile of the judgment debtor or, if the judgment debtor is domiciled abroad, at the registered office of the third-party debtor.
15 Securities: Claims embodied in securities must be seized where they are physically located. This also applies if the security is pledged.
16 Real estate: The debt enforcement office at the location of the property is responsible. If a property is located in several debt enforcement districts, the office responsible is the one in whose territory the more valuable part is located (Art. 24 para. 1 VZG).
17 Intellectual property rights: Intellectual property rights must be seized at the place of residence of the judgment debtor. If the judgment debtor is resident abroad, intellectual property rights entered in a register are seized at the location of the Swiss register (i.e., at the headquarters of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) in Bern).
18 Cryptocurrencies: Cryptocurrencies are intangible assets. Like claims, cryptocurrencies can therefore only be located in a fictitious sense. If the judgment debtor is domiciled in Switzerland, the place of location is therefore generally considered to be the domicile of the judgment debtor. This principle applies as long as the seizure of cryptocurrencies does not require any official acts that only the foreign debt enforcement office is authorized to perform (i.e., only inquiries by letter and telephone are necessary and no seizure of hardware is required). If the judgment debtor is not resident in Switzerland, the location of the cryptocurrency is the place where the cryptocurrency can actually be accessed. This is possible, for example, at the registered office of the private key holder if the latter can be instructed to hand over the private key (as is regularly the case with the practically important payment tokens Bitcoin and Ether). Depending on the technical design of the system, other access options (and thus locations) are conceivable (e.g., via an admin key or via central administration of “permissioned distributed ledger systems”). For a location to be considered the location of the cryptocurrency, it is sufficient if actual access to the cryptocurrency is possible in some form at this location.
19 Book-entry securities: The attachment takes place exclusively at the location of the custodian that manages the securities account of the account holder to whom the book-entry securities are credited (Art. 14 para. 1 BEG).
20 Share rights: The debt enforcement office at the debtor's place of residence is responsible for the attachment of share rights (i.e., e.g., assets of an undivided estate or a general partnership; see Art. 1 VVAG) (Art. 2 VVAG).
21 Ships: Registered ships are to be seized at the location of the ship register (Art. 55 para. 2 Federal Act on the Ship Register). Foreign ships may be seized at their actual location.
22 Aircraft: Aircraft are to be seized at the place of residence of the owner entered in the aircraft register (Art. 53 Federal Act on the Aircraft Register). Foreign aircraft may be seized at their actual location (Art. 54 Federal Act on the Aircraft Register).
III. Enforcement
23 The attachment takes effect from the time at which it was enforced. The attachment is deemed to have been enforced as soon as the debt enforcement office informs the debtor that the assets have been officially seized and that the debtor may no longer dispose of them, with reference to the penalties under Art. 169 of the SCC. If the debtor is not present, the attachment only takes effect upon delivery of the attachment document.
24 The attachment declaration must sufficiently identify the attached assets. An insufficiently precise description may render the attachment declaration null and void.
25 The attachment declaration may be made verbally, in writing (Art. 34 DEBA) or by public announcement (Art. 35 DEBA). As a rule, the debt enforcement office will notify the debtor of the attachment declaration using sample form 6/6a.
Bibliography
Foëx Bénédict, Commentaire de l'art. 89 LP, in: Foëx Bénédict/Jeandin Nicolas/Braconi Andrea/Chappuis Benoît (eds.), Commentaire Romand, Poursuite et faillite (LP), 2 édition, Basel 2025 (zit. CR LP- Foëx).
Kren Kostkiewicz Jolanta, Orell Füssli Kommentar (OFK), SchKG Kommentar, 20. Aufl., Zürich 2020 (zit. OFK-Kren Kostkiewicz).
Kren Kostkiewicz Jolanta, Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursrecht, 4. Aufl., Zürich 2024.
Staehelin Daniel, Die internationale Zuständigkeit der Schweiz im Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursrecht, AJP 1995, S. 259 ff.
Stoffel Walter A./Chabloz Isabelle, Voies d'exécution Poursuite pour dettes, exécution de jugements et faillite en droit suisse, 3. édition, Berne 2016.
Vock Dominik, § 7 Zwangsvollstreckung, in: Zellweger-Gutknecht Corinne/Tschudi Dominik/MacCabe Kevin, Kryptowerte, Basel 2024.
Winkler Thomas, Kommentierung zu Art. 89 SchKG, in: Hunkeler Daniel (Hrsg.), Kurzkommentar, Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursrecht, 3. Aufl., Basel 2025 (zit. KUKO SchKG-Winkler).
Winkler Thomas, Kommentierung zu Art. 89 SchKG, in: Kren Kostkiewicz Jolanta/Vock Dominik (Hrsg.), Schulthess Kommentar, Kommentar zum Bundesgesetz über Schuldbetreibung und Konkurs, 4. Aufl., Zürich 2017 (zit. SK-Winkler).
Zogg Samuel, Zwangsvollstreckungsrechtliche Behandlung von Kryptowährungen, in: recht 2020, S. 1 ff.