Decision on the Jurisdiction of a Brazilian Court to Assess Claims from a Trust Agreement

Facts

[A.] (Plaintiff, Appellant) and [B.] concluded a share purchase agreement and a trust agreement on June 11, 2007. In Clause 7 of the share purchase agreement, the parties agreed that the court in São Paulo shall have jurisdiction over disputes arising from this contract. After the death of [B.] on March 30, 2014, [A.] filed a claim against the estate of the late [B.] with the District Court of Höfe on April 25, 2018. He based this on the trust relationship and demanded, among other things, to be informed about the further proceedings in Brazil and the payout of distributed credits and realized proceeds. The defendant took the position that, due to the jurisdiction clause in the share purchase agreement, the Brazilian courts were competent to assess the claim. The District Court of Höfe did not enter into the claim due to lack of local jurisdiction. [A.] appealed against this to the Cantonal Court of Schwyz, which dismissed the appeal.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Cantonal Court. It stated that the jurisdiction clause in the share purchase agreement was also…