Dismissal of the claim to contest the debt by the joint and several guarantor

Facts

Weisskredit Handels- und Anlagebank paid Crédit Agricole Chevenez the sum of 78,957 francs, allegedly on behalf of its client Misteli, in order to acquire the unpaid claim of 105,000 francs of Crédit Agricole against the company EGA SA, as well as all ancillary rights, in particular the rights of surety towards the joint and several guarantors. The joint and several guarantor Hiltmann contested this claim. The Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich upheld the contestation claim, considering that Hiltmann could have understood the letter of August 5, 1967 from Crédit Agricole as a declaration of release of his surety due to the extinction of the principal debt. The FSCA dismisses the appeal of Weisskredit Handels- und Anlagebank.

Considerations

First, the FSCA considers that the assigned claim still existed on November 7, 1967 and belonged to Crédit Agricole, so that it could validly assign it to Weisskredit Handels- und Anlagebank. The letter of August 5, 1967 could not be interpreted as a release of Hiltmann's surety, but only as a finding by Crédit Agricole that the principal debt had been paid by the payments of the two sureties Hiltmann and Misteli, resulting in a change of creditor by legal subrogation.

Next, the FSCA examines the subsidiary claim of Weisskredit Handels- und Anlagebank, based on the assignment by Misteli of his rights resulting from…