Keinert, Patrick --- "NATIONAL REPORT FOR SWITZERLAND" [2019] ELECD 884; in Chuah, Jason; Vaccari, Eugenio (eds), "Executory Contracts in Insolvency Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 419

Book Title: Executory Contracts in Insolvency Law

Editor(s): Chuah, Jason; Vaccari, Eugenio

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 22

Section Title: NATIONAL REPORT FOR SWITZERLAND

Author(s): Keinert, Patrick

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

This chapter investigates the treatment of executory contracts under Swiss corporate insolvency law and the factors that influenced the evolution of the law with reference to these and related contracts. Legal provisions concerning the treatment of executory contracts are very rare in Swiss insolvency law. The administrator’s right to decide on the fate of an executory contract is a fundamental rule of Swiss insolvency law. In principle, an insolvency proceeding has no direct effect on the validity of contracts. The contractual relationship continues in insolvency. Special rules apply in the composition procedure and with reference to contractual remedies agreed by the parties in solvent times. With reference to reforms, it can be generally observed that the main source of reform has been through parliamentary and governmental initiatives, notably coming about in the aftermath of the Swissair insolvency case in 2001. The new reforms have regularly drawn parallels with the Chapter 11 procedure of U.S. law. To a lesser extent, the legislator cites the influence of the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law and various other jurisdictions. Nevertheless, it is difficult to establish the main trends surrounding executory contracts.