Decision on the deposit with the office of a pledge title held by a third party

Facts

In this case, Z. requested that L.'s co-ownership shares in a property as well as L.'s pledge title in the amount of CHF 2,150,000 held by the company Z.I. AG be seized. The debt collection office then ordered Z.I. AG to deposit the pledge title with the office, unless the company claimed ownership of the title.

Z.I. AG filed an appeal against this decision. The cantonal supervisory authorities rejected the appeal. Z.I. AG then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court considered that the purpose of the precautionary measure, namely to prevent the virtual encumbrance of the property from becoming effective through the transfer of the title, can no longer be achieved. Indeed, the pledge title is already pledged at its full nominal value, so that any possible new pledge or transfer of the title would not diminish the guarantee provided by the seizure of the property.

Consequently,…