Facts
[E. AG] operated a profile pressing plant and produced semi-finished products. J. [F.] had been their agent with exclusive sales rights for certain cantons since 1973. After disputes arose between the parties regarding commission settlements, J. [F.] terminated the contract at the end of 1990. The parties could not agree on the extent of the outstanding compensation.
J. [F.] sued [E. AG] for payment of customer compensation and outstanding commissions. The District Court of Untertoggenburg ordered [E. AG] to pay around 493,000 Swiss francs, and the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen reduced the amount to around 387,000 Swiss francs. The Federal Supreme Court dismissed both the appeal of [E. AG] and the cross-appeal of J. F.
Considerations
According to the law, the agent's commission claim arises when the transaction between the principal and the customer has been legally concluded. The intermediary agent must have mediated the specific transaction or recruited the third party as a customer for transactions of this kind.
Upon termination of the agency relationship, all of the agent's claims for commission and compensation become due, according to the law. There is an…