Walder Wyss Secures Complainant Status in Merged Entity Appeal
On October 12, 2023, Walder Wyss achieved a significant legal victory by addressing a contentious issue regarding the loss of plaintiff status when two entities merge. In a pivotal ruling with the reference number PE18.001805, delivered on September 29, 2023, the Court of Criminal Appeal in the Canton of Vaud boldly upheld the client’s plaintiff status, building upon the initial success in the lower court.
Beyond the reminder of the (well founded) doctrinal criticisms expressed in connection with the current Federal Court case-law (Andrew Garbarski – Mazzuchelli/Postizzi – Francesca Bonzanigo – Yannick Caballero Cuevas), we had further pleaded the incompatibility of this overly restrictive interpretation in view of new the forced merger of the two largest Swiss banking establishments upon intervention by the Federal Council this Spring and the potential chaos it may entail.
The three Judges of the Criminal Court followed us, “noting that since the last judgment rendered by the High Court in the matter (see TF 1B_537/2021 cited above), circumstances have evolved, with the recent intervention of the Federal Council aiming for the two largest Swiss banks to merge […]. Maintaining jurisprudence and, therefore, continuing to limit adhesive civil action would cause an influx of new civil cases.” (The decision is not yet final and binding.)
The Walder Wyss team was led by Rodolphe Gautier (Partner/Litigation) with Roxane Allot (Senior Associate/Litigation) and Gilian Nassisi (Junior Associate/Litigation).
