Bär & Karrer Successfully Represented UBS Before Swiss Federal Supreme Court

In the recently published judgement 4A_601/2024 of 6 February 2025 (scheduled for publication in the Official Collection of Decisions), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld an appeal by UBS in a dispute initiated by a former Credit Suisse shareholder regarding the conversion of his Credit Suisse shares into UBS shares as part of the merger between the two banks in 2023.

For the first time, the Federal Supreme Court addressed the legal question of whether the Zurich Commercial Court has exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction for so-called appraisal claims pursuant to art. 105 of the Merger Act. The highest Swiss court shared the view of UBS that the Zurich Commercial Court pursuant to Art. 6(4)(b) CPC, has exclusive jurisdiction to hear corporate law actions arising out of the Merger Act. The Federal Supreme Court therefore overturned a decision by the Zurich High Court, which had held that the Zurich District Court had jurisdiction to hear the former CS shareholders' claim, and thereby confirmed that the Zurich District Court had rightly declined jurisdiction over the case.

The Bär & Karrer team representing UBS consisted of partners Nadja Jaisli Kull, Andreas Länzlinger, and Cinzia Catelli as well as associate Gianin Hoessly (all Litigation).