Facts
Bank X. holds assets of A. On January 27, 2009, the Adult and Child Protection Commission of the City of Bern established a guardianship over A. at A.'s own request. With a netting order dated July 7, 2009, the guardian instructed Bank X. to net all of A.'s accounts and deposits and transfer the balance to an account at Bank C.
Bank X. filed a complaint against this action of the guardian on July 20, 2009, pursuant to Art. 420 para. 1 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB). The Adult and Child Protection Commission of the City of Bern did not enter into the matter on September 22, 2009. Bank X. then filed further complaints, which ultimately reached the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court examined whether Bank X. is entitled to file a complaint pursuant to Art. 420 ZGB against the guardian's action. It concluded that Bank X. cannot be considered a closely related person of the ward A. and is therefore not entitled to file a guardianship complaint if it wants to safeguard the interests of the ward in this way.
The Federal Supreme Court stated that according to the case law, a third party is entitled to file a complaint if it invokes the interests of the person in need of protection or asserts the violation of its own rights and interests that should have been taken into account. However, if the third party invokes the interests of the person in need of protection, it must be closely related to that person in order…