LegaFund Insights
Insights
Research, legal finance, and private capital perspectives with Swiss institutional rigor.
Inner nexus as the hinge — BGer 4A_149/2025 on the duty to surrender retrocessions in execution-only relationships
In its ruling 4A_149/2025 of 12 January 2026 — designated for official publication — the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, sitting as a five-judge panel, denies any duty to surrender retrocessions in a pure execution-only relationship. An analysis of the conflict-of-interest doctrine as the dogmatic hinge, of the constellations the Court deliberately leaves open, and of the consequences for discretionary asset management, investment advice and retrocession-related claims enforcement.
Retrocessions: open questions and doctrinal debates
Execution-only remains the central open question. We summarise cantonal divergence, doctrinal debates (conflict prevention vs ‘general enrichment’), boundary questions on genuine services, and the supervisory/civil-law interface highlighted by Abegglen.
Retrocessions in practice: implications for private banks and clients
A practical playbook for banks and clients: govern retrocessions as incentive risk, segment relationship types, implement court-accepted disclosure, document waivers and repapering, and operationalise client inquiries—grounded in Abegglen’s 2024 reading.
Prescription periods for retrocession claims: source-limited note
The source does not provide a prescription-period analysis. This source-limited note explains what Abegglen does cover instead: retroactive waivers, time-layered disclosure, client inquiry expectations and the annualised disclosure architecture.
When is a retrocession waiver valid? Consent requirements under Swiss case law
What makes a retrocession waiver effective under current case law? We distil Abegglen’s summary of required disclosure elements, the meaning of ‘Eckwerte’, the acceptance of bandwidth-based disclosure, and practical implications for AGB and repapering.
Retrocessions case law: Swiss Federal Supreme Court timeline and consequences
From the first landmark ruling (2006) through the informed-waiver doctrine (2011) to the 2024 clarifications on ‘Eckwerte’, industry-standard disclosure and retroactive AGB waivers—this timeline summarises what the Federal Supreme Court has decided and what remains open.
Retrocessions under Swiss law: legal foundations
Art. 400 CO is the doctrinal anchor for retrocession surrender duties. This post explains the ‘inner connection’ test, the conflict-of-interest rationale, and how relationship type (wealth management, advice, execution-only, custody) drives the analysis.