Facts
The spouses M. opened a joint securities deposit and account with the Swiss Federal Bank before World War II together with relatives. The agreement provided that the account holders ("principals") were jointly and severally entitled and obligated. Each principal could dispose of the deposit independently and without the involvement of the others.
After the death of the spouses M., their two sons D. and G. were appointed as heirs. G. passed away in 1957, whereupon D. accepted his inheritance. D.M. later demanded that the Swiss Bank Association (SBG), the legal successor to the Swiss Federal Bank, release the assets from the deposits of his deceased parents. However, the SBG refused to comply with this request.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court ruled that D.M. had entered into the rights and obligations of his deceased parents from the agency relationship with the bank. According to the provisions on agency in the Code of Obligations, he…