be constrained by the challenge of locating assets in Switzerland, given that Switzerland does not have many publicly accessible registers that would enable creditors seeking satisfaction of their debts to locate assets ready for liquidation. Land registers are currently still maintained by each commune individually and these will only disclose information about ownership of real estate upon an individual inquiry as to a particular parcel. As of 1 January 2023, a national real estate search tool has been introduced, but this is only accessible to public authorities. Authorities can submit queries based on the tool, which are then relayed to the communal real estate offices. This should in effect enable authorities (but not private individuals) to find out whether a debtor owns real estate in Switzerland, even though a central land register still does not exist. There are no central security registers and banks are not permitted to disclose the existence (or non-existence) of client relationships. where a foreign judgement or award forms the basis for the debt. Claims that have not yet become the object of court proceedings are enforced directly against the Swiss resident debtor based on the DEBA process outlined above, which again may require the serving of initial documents by means of international treaties (such as the Hague Conventions). Where local courts need to ascertain the validity of the debt, the Swiss Civil Code and cantonal court organisation statutes come into play for certain procedural technicalities and the Federal Act on International Private Law as concerns aspects of substantive law. Are significant complications created when the debtor organisation is particularly large? The fact that a debtor organisation is particularly large does not in itself constitute a significant complexity. Where the debtor is incorporated in Switzerland, a quick online check in the electronic commercial register should suffice to establish the place of incorporation of the debtor and hence the district of the competent debt enforcement office. A certain degree of complication may enter the fray if there is uncertainty which entity of a conglomerate is the actual debtor (i.e. a subsidiary or the holding company, or whether the debt was entered into by a company or a branch office located in Switzerland). However, these issues need to be resolved on a material level and do not as such impact on the actual enforcement. What are the primary obstacles associated with cross-border debt collection? Cross-border debt collection may 62 LAWYERMONTHLYMARCH 2023 Avoiding legal problems is always smarter than having to deal with controversies once they have arisen.
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