Facts
On April 24 and November 21, 1989, [W. AG] as the lessee entered into two "finance leasing contracts" with the leasing company [A. AG] for two vehicles that were to be used in the business as delivery vehicles. On February 8, 1991, bankruptcy proceedings were opened against W. AG. [A. AG] then asserted that it was the owner of the two vehicles, which was disputed by the bankruptcy office. The Commercial Court of Bern upheld A. AG's claim for separation.
The bankruptcy estate of [W. AG] appealed this decision to the Federal Supreme Court. The main question was whether the contracts were finance leasing contracts or conditional sales contracts, as the latter would have led to the transfer of ownership to W. AG.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that finance leasing contracts constitute a separate type of contract, in which the leasing company retains legal ownership of the leased items, but grants the lessee the economic position of an owner. The decisive factor is whether the parties had an intention to sell, which was not the case here.
The Federal Supreme Court…