Facts
The present case concerns the bankruptcy of company C. SA. The bankruptcy estate has brought a request for provisional measures before the court of first instance of Geneva to preserve the avoidance claims against company [D. SA], to which [C. SA] had sold all of its assets on January 9, 2017.
Subsequently, the bankruptcy office proposed to the creditors of [C. SA] to abandon to the estate the liability claims against the governing bodies of [C. SA] as well as the avoidance action against D. SA. Several creditors, including A. Inc. and B. Inc., then requested the assignment of these rights in their favor under Art. 260 DEBA.
The office initially assigned these rights to these creditors, but then corrected its decision to also include [D. SA] among the assignees. A. Inc. and B. Inc. then filed a complaint against this decision with the Supervisory Authority, which was rejected. They then appealed this decision to the Federal Tribunal.
Considerations
The central question is whether the supervisory authority is competent to rule on the validity of the assignment of a claim from the estate to a creditor close to the debtor of that claim.
According to case law, the assignment of the rights of the estate under Art. 260 DEBA is a measure for the liquidation of the bankruptcy that falls within the competence of the bankruptcy administration, under the control of the supervisory authority. The latter may in particular refuse an assignment if the assignee is itself a debtor of the assigned claim.
However, if the status of debtor of the assignee is disputed on the ground that it is materially identical to the debtor listed in the inventory, this…