Ordinance of July 13, 1911 on the Administration of Bankruptcy Offices (OABO) (KOV)

Bankruptcy offices must keep up-to-date the following tables and registers: 1. a table of bankruptcies and letters of request addressed by other bankruptcy offices; 2. a cash book; 3. a general ledger; 4. a trial balance book.

The bankruptcy offices are required to use uniform forms for drafting the acts and documents designated hereafter: 1. bankruptcy report; 2. inventory; 3. list of claims; 4. summons for the creditors' meeting; 5. schedule of claims; 6. assignment of rights from the bankruptcy estate, according to Article 260 of the Swiss Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (DEBA); 7. auction notice, according to Article 257 DEBA; 8. statement of expenses and distribution list of proceeds; 9. notice of deposit of the distribution list to creditors and the bankrupt; 10. certificate of lack of assets; 11. list of disbursements and fees; 12. ... 13. publications related to the opening of the bankruptcy, the deposit of the schedule of claims, the revocation, suspension, and closure of the bankruptcy.

The registers, tables, and forms listed in Articles 1 and 2 above must be prepared in accordance with the templates contained in the supplement annexed to the present ordinance.

Furthermore, the cantons have the authority to authorize or prescribe other forms (auction minutes, notices, etc.).

The bankruptcy office must register and number bankruptcy cases to be liquidated and letters rogatory according to their order of arrival in the bankruptcy register. The numbering should be restarted at the beginning of each year. Bankruptcies not entirely liquidated by the end of the year must be briefly mentioned at the beginning of the list for the following year.

The bankruptcy register is equipped with an alphabetical index where the names of the bankrupt individuals are recorded.

The office must file a copy of all its communications in its records.

Shipments of cash or securities, as well as registered letters, must be sent against a postal receipt or recorded in a book of postal receipts.

When the communications from the office are made through an official publication, a copy of the journal or a clipping of it bearing the date of the publication shall be attached to the bankruptcy proceedings.

When the bankruptcy officer is unable to perform their duties, they must promptly transfer the file to their deputy. If the deputy is also unable to act and the appointment of an extraordinary deputy is necessary, the officer shall invite the cantonal authority to proceed with this appointment.

Bankruptcies liquidated by the deputy are nonetheless recorded in the bankruptcy register of the office. A note is made in the observation column regarding the administration by the deputy or an extraordinary deputy, as well as the reasons for this substitution.

The deputy must indicate their capacity on all documents they sign. After the closure of the bankruptcy, they must hand over the documents and the minutes to the competent office.

In the event of a change of officer, an official handover of the office shall take place under the supervision of an official specially appointed by the cantonal supervisory authority. All registers shall be closed and countersigned by the outgoing officer. A verification of the office’s accounts shall then be conducted; the existing cash balance must match the total of the open accounts for the various bankruptcies, after deducting the amounts deposited with the deposit fund. The registers shall note the date on which the outgoing officer ceased their duties and the date on which their successor assumed them.

A report of the official handover of the office is drawn up; this report is signed by all attendees.

The officer shall maintain a separate, constantly updated record for each bankruptcy case, including those cases where suspension due to lack of assets is declared; the same shall be done for all letters of request received from other offices.

The record is established at the beginning of the bankruptcy case or upon receipt of the letter of request. The officer shall immediately record therein, in chronological order, all actions related to the bankruptcy, as well as events likely to impact the liquidation process.

The minutes shall only contain the essential parts of the operations and events related to the bankruptcy, insofar as necessary to make the minutes understandable and give it probative force. Communications from the office are mentioned only if they have legal significance. Decisions, orders, or judgments rendered by the courts are reported by indicating only the operative part. Furthermore, the number of the document to which the entry relates must be indicated in the relevant column.

The minutes are drafted on loose sheets which shall be paginated and bound with a cover bearing the name of the bankruptcy. It is finalized by the signature of the officer and by affixing the seal of the office.

...

Annexed to the minutes to form integral parts thereof are: the inventory, the list of claims filed, the statement of expenses, the minutes of the creditors' meetings and the supervisory commission, the reports of the bankruptcy administration, and the judicial decisions pronouncing the closure or revocation of the bankruptcy.

The documents related to a letter rogatory are sent by the requested office to the requesting office.

The principal acts of bankruptcy, that is to say, the official record and the documents annexed to it as an integral part in accordance with Article 10 above, may not be handed over to third parties or courts unless they cannot be supplemented by certified true copies or by the personal testimony of the bankruptcy administrator.

With the consent of the cantonal supervisory authority, the offices may maintain the schedules and registers mentioned in Article 1, and prepare the documents and records referred to in Article 2, as well as communications according to Article 5, with the aid of electronic data processing.

All documents received by the bankruptcy office shall immediately be marked with the date of their arrival.

Subject to the provisions in Articles 21 and 24, second paragraph, regarding receipts and disbursements, the documents related to any bankruptcy must be organized by categories (inventory, claims, exempt items, schedule of claims), arranged - within each category - in alphabetical or chronological order, and compiled in a binder bearing the name of the bankruptcy.

The supporting documents submitted by the creditors of the bankruptcy must carry the number of the filing to which they relate; they are organized using the letters of the alphabet.

The documents of closed bankruptcies can be destroyed ten years after the day of closure; cash books with their appendices, ledgers, and trial balance books can also be destroyed ten years after their closure.

The bankruptcy register must be preserved for 40 years from the closure of the bankruptcies.

The bankruptcy office must observe the following rules regarding the preservation of the bankrupt’s accounting books and business papers: 1. If the bankrupt's business has been transferred as a whole to a third party, that party may require the office to deliver them. 2. If there has been no transfer as a whole, and thus the accounting books and business papers cannot be delivered to a third party, proceed as follows: a. In the case of the bankruptcy of a sole proprietorship, the accounting books and business papers are handed over to the bankrupt after the conclusion of the bankruptcy; from that moment, the bankrupt is obliged to preserve them for ten years, in accordance with Article 962 of the Code of Obligations, b. in the case of the bankruptcy of a general partnership or limited partnership, they are handed over to the partner with unlimited liability chosen by their co-partners to receive the deposit. If they cannot agree on this choice, the books and business papers remain deposited with the office until a judicial decision allocates them to one of them, or until the expiration of the ten-year period from the date of the last entry, c. in the case of the bankruptcy of a corporation or a cooperative, the accounting books and business papers remain deposited with the office after the conclusion of the bankruptcy, until the competent commercial registry officer, pursuant to Article 747 of the Code of Obligations, designates another safe place where they must be deposited until the expiration of the ten-year period. 3. The bankruptcy office is obliged to ensure the safekeeping of the books and business papers that the bankrupt cannot manage. 4. The cantonal supervisory authorities have the obligation to ensure that bankruptcy offices, which are unable to preserve the accounting books and business papers entrusted to their care under the rules indicated above, can deliver them to a central repository.

With the consent of the cantonal supervisory authority, documents that must be retained may be recorded on image or data carriers; the originals can then be destroyed.

The cantonal supervisory authority shall ensure that the regulations of the Ordinance of April 24, 2002, regarding the maintenance and preservation of accounting records are complied with.

The bankruptcy office must promptly and in chronological order record all receipts and payments made by the office on behalf of a liquidation bankruptcy in the cash book, particularly bankruptcy expenses (advances and balance), cash found during the inventory, collections of claims, rents, and leases, proceeds from public auctions, withdrawals by the office towards bankruptcy fees, deposits or withdrawals from the registry of deposits, and dividend distributions.

Each entry must specify: the date of the payment, the indication of the bankruptcy, the name and domicile of the person who pays or receives the amount collected or paid (the first in Debit and the second in Credit), and lastly the account number corresponding to the general ledger.

The cash book must be closed each month, and the balance carried forward.

In the main ledger of the office, a special account is opened for each bankruptcy. The custodian enters, in chronological order, all cash transactions related to the bankruptcy as they are recorded in the cash book; this account shall be closed at the end of the liquidation.

These entries must include: the date of payment, the name and domicile of the person who made or received the payment, a brief indication of the reason for the payment, a cross-reference to the corresponding folio in the cash book, and finally the amount of money received or paid (the former in Credit, the latter in Debit). If several items are combined in a single cash entry, they must be transcribed in detail.

The office must also maintain a special account of its transactions with the deposit office; in this account, it must record, mentioning the name of the bankruptcy concerned, all deposits (on the Debit) and all withdrawals (on the Credit), as well as the credited interest.

Payments to the deposit office are made in the name of the estate for which they are made, and not in the name of the office; thus, the deposit office is required to open a special account for each bankruptcy.

At the end of each month, the officer is required to verify his accounting (Art. 16, third paragraph). The totals of the Debit and Credit as well as the balances of each account are recorded in the trial balance book. The officer shall affix his signature at the bottom of the trial balance. The trial balance must ensure the consistency between the entries recorded in the cash book and those in the general ledger, as well as the consistency of the cash and deposit account balances with the entries in the cash book and the general ledger.

This consistency between the entries in the cash book and the general ledger shall be considered as existing when the sum of all the account balances opened for bankruptcies in the general ledger, reduced by the deposit account balance, corresponds to the cash balance. If the office detects an error in the accounting, it must investigate and correct it before carrying forward the balance again.

Entries made in the cash book, the general ledger, and the trial balance book shall be recorded with care, avoiding erasures, overwriting, entries between the lines, and blanks. The rectification of erroneous entries is carried out by means of supplementary entries or write-offs.

Receipts (see Art. 16) may be filed separately for each bankruptcy case, in chronological order, in a special file bearing the name of the bankruptcy and annexed to the main case file after the closure of the bankruptcy case.

Alternatively, they may be numbered by date without being filed separately for each bankruptcy case, maintaining the order followed in the office's ledger; this numbering starts anew each year with the receipts grouped into bundles formed year by year.

In the first system, the serial number listed on each receipt is recorded in the ledger, whereas in the second system, it is recorded in the cash book.

The office is obligated to deposit with the deposit fund, no later than the fourth day after their receipt, all significant receipts, as well as securities and valuable items (Art. 9 and 24 DCBA). However, it may retain an adequate amount to meet forthcoming expenses. The deposit of cash must be executed, even if it does not yield interest.

In the case of a commission rogatory, the requested office is obliged to promptly hand over to the requesting office the cash received, the securities, and the inventoried valuable items.

Superintendents are prohibited from: a. mixing their personal assets with those of the office, both concerning the cash itself and deposits at the deposit office; b. recording, in cases where they hold other official positions, entries in the cash book or the general ledger that do not pertain to the bankruptcy office, unless these different entries are made in special columns; c. using, even temporarily, sums from one bankruptcy estate for the needs of another. If the superintendent is required to make personal advances on behalf of a bankruptcy estate, they must immediately record this in the cash book.

The office shall prepare, at the commencement of proceedings, a detailed account for each letter of commission, where the fees and disbursements of the office and those of the members of the supervisory commission are recorded.

Accounting documents related to disbursements (costs of the estate) are to be numbered in chronological order, compiled into a bundle, and retained with other bankruptcy documents after the closure of the liquidation.

The cantonal supervisory authority may authorize an alternative method of organizing the maintenance of books, cash, and accounting, provided it meets the above requirements.

The inventory must contain, in separate sections but with consistent numbering: real estate, movable objects, securities, various claims and demands, and cash. The total estimate for each of these categories is calculated at the end of the inventory. If there are no assets to be listed in one or another of these categories, this is mentioned in the final summary.

The inventory can also be prepared by listing the assets one after the other without making distinct categories.

The inventory must indicate the location of each item (bankruptcy district, municipality, premises).

The inventory of real estate, mentioning the rights of third parties, shall be prepared based on an excerpt from the land register; it is permissible to substitute the detailed inventory with a reference to this excerpt.

If the real estate has been leased or rented, information regarding the identity of the tenant or lessee, the duration of the contract, the amount of rent or lease fee, and the due date must be included in the inventory or on a separate sheet.

Assets existing abroad shall be listed in the inventory without considering the possibility of realizing them for the benefit of the bankruptcy proceedings opened in Switzerland.

Rights existing in favor of the bankruptcy estate according to Articles 214 and 285 et seq. of the Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (LP) shall be listed in the inventory and estimated at the approximate value they will reach if the courts recognize their validity.

Mortgages evidencing a claim secured by the real estate of the bankrupt and found in the possession of the latter shall not be inventoried as assets but shall appear solely as a memorandum and be placed in the custody of the office (cf. Art. 75 below).

The inventory is dated; it specifies the duration of the inventory operations and the names of all individuals who participated in them.

The officer and any experts he may have appointed, if applicable, must sign the inventory.

Finally, after expressly drawing attention to the consequences of providing incomplete information about his financial situation, the officer invites the bankrupt to declare whether he acknowledges the drawn-up inventory as accurate and complete.

This declaration must be given, recorded, and signed following each category of the inventory.

If the bankrupt individual is deceased or has absconded, the adult members of their household are obliged to make the declarations provided for in Article 29, paragraphs 3 and 4, on their behalf. In the event of the bankruptcy of a general partnership or limited partnership, these declarations are made by each of the indefinitely liable partners present who were authorized to manage the company; in the case of a corporation or a cooperative society, they are made by the organs of these entities.

If these declarations could not be obtained, the inventory shall indicate the reasons.

The specification of items of strict necessity that the administration intends to leave with the bankrupt shall be listed at the end of the inventory; this enumeration shall indicate the numbers assigned to these items in the inventory.

Notification of this decision shall be given to the bankrupt at the time of the acknowledgment of the inventory or through special written communication.

If the bankrupt waives their rights to all or part of the property assigned to them, this waiver shall be recorded in the inventory by an entry signed by the bankrupt.

The decision regarding the items of strict necessity left to the bankrupt shall be communicated at the first meeting of creditors during the presentation of the inventory. The period for appealing to the supervisory authority against this decision starts to run from that day. Subsequently, it can no longer be contested by the creditors.

If no decision could be taken regarding the items of strict necessity at the time of the first meeting of creditors and in the case of a summary liquidation, the communication of the deposit of the inventory coincides with that of the schedule of claims; the period for appealing against the inventory operations starts to run from the day of the deposit.

The civil and natural fruits produced by the real estate during the bankruptcy are recorded consecutively in the inventory under a special section.

Third-party claims (Art. 242 to 242b DEBA) shall be listed in the inventory in a dedicated section indicating the claimant's name, the number assigned to the claimed asset in the inventory, and, where applicable, any accompanying documents filed. A note regarding the claim shall also be made on the inventory itself, in the observation column, following the claimed asset.

The explanations provided by the bankrupt regarding these claims, subsequent decisions by the bankruptcy administration, and finally, the outcome of any initiated proceedings shall be concisely documented at the end of this same section.

If the bankruptcy judgment has not required the creditor or the debtor, at whose request the bankruptcy was declared, to pay an advance for costs incurred up to and including the suspension of liquidation due to lack of assets or until the call to creditors, the office has the right to demand it from the persons legally responsible for the costs pursuant to Article 169 DEBA.

This request must not result in delaying the preparation of the inventory.

If the administrator decides to continue the business or industry of the bankrupt until the day of the first meeting of creditors, they must close the accounting books on the day the bankruptcy is opened and continue to maintain them on behalf of the bankruptcy estate, unless they decide to open a separate set of accounts.

During the inventory, the officer is required to question the bankrupt on the following points: a. the name and domicile of all known creditors not mentioned in the books; b. the existence of lawsuits as per Article 207, Paragraph 1 of the DCBA; c. the existence of life insurance policies and damage insurance (cf. Art. 54 and 55 of the Federal Law of April 2, 1908, on Insurance Contracts); d. the parental authority or guardianship he may exercise, as well as property claims or debts existing in favor of those under such authority; e. the rank he holds in the army: non-commissioned officer, officer, or specialist officer (soldier, lance corporal, or non-commissioned officer performing officer duties).

When the office examines whether the proceeds from the inventoried assets are sufficient to cover the costs of an ordinary liquidation (Art. 231, 1st para., subpara. 1, DCBA), it must consider that only the potential surplus from the realization of pledged assets will be used to cover the general expenses of the bankruptcy (Art. 262 DCBA).

If the office estimates that this potential surplus, added to the proceeds of assets not pledged, will not be sufficient to cover the anticipated costs, it must propose to the bankruptcy judge either a summary liquidation or the suspension of the bankruptcy; if the case is simple, it will propose a summary liquidation.

The special notice provided for in Article 233 of the Federal Act on Debt Collection and Bankruptcy must specify the content of the bankruptcy publication. Persons holding claims secured by a pledge on the bankrupt's assets, as well as third parties to whom these claims have been assigned as a pledge, are invited to submit their titles to the office.

The special notice must be sent in the event of an ordinary liquidation

a. to all creditors whose names and addresses are known;

b. to the court before which a civil lawsuit is pending pursuant to Article 207, paragraph 1, of the said Act, and to the authority before which an administrative procedure is pending pursuant to Article 207, paragraph 2, of the said Act;

c. to the insurer with whom the bankrupt has concluded a personal or damage insurance contract;

d. to the competent child and adult protection authority, if the bankrupt holds parental authority, acts as a curator or guardian, or serves as a proxy due to incapacity and there are concrete indications that the opening of the bankruptcy could pose a threat to the interests of the child or affected individuals;

e. to the land registry offices of other bankruptcy districts in which the bankrupt owns real estate according to the inventory.

The names of the creditors to whom notices have been sent are recorded in the bankruptcy minutes or on a special list that must be signed by the officer in charge.

Unless the creditor has special reasons to request them, the means of proof shall be kept in the bankruptcy file until the expiration of the objection period to the schedule of claims and will only be returned after that moment.

The bankruptcy office shall prepare a detailed record of each meeting of creditors. This record shall list the names of all creditors present and their representatives; this information may be entered on a special list, prepared by the office, of all known creditors, and signed by the officer in charge and the members of the bureau. The record shall also indicate whether the meeting was validly constituted (Articles 236 and 254 of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Law).

The report of the office as provided in Articles 237, first paragraph, and 253, first paragraph of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Law, may be presented either in writing or orally. In the former case, it shall be countersigned and attached to the bankruptcy proceedings with a note in the record; if presented orally, the record shall reproduce the essential points.

The record shall further contain all proposals made and all decisions taken, without reproducing the discussion that gave rise to them; it must be signed by the officer in charge and the members of the bureau.

If the creditors' meeting appoints a special administration (Art. 237, 2nd para. and 253, 2nd para. DEBA), the office hands over the documents and the minutes of the bankruptcy to it; it communicates to the supervisory authority the names, profession, and domicile of the members of the special administration, as well as an extract from the minutes of the creditors' meeting. If the bankrupt is registered in the commercial register, the office must also inform the commercial registry office of the appointment of the special administration.

If a supervisory commission has been appointed, a report of its decisions shall be kept, which will be annexed to the bankruptcy report once the bankruptcy is concluded (Art. 10).

Right to Restitution

The bankruptcy administration shall decide, after the expiration of the filing deadline provided for in Art. 232, para. 2, item 2, of the Swiss Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act (LP), on the restitution of goods claimed by a third party over which the bankruptcy estate has the right of disposal (Art. 242 or 242a LP and Art. 34 of this Ordinance); its decision shall be rendered whether the third party's right to restitution was asserted by the third party itself or declared by the bankrupt or another person.

This decision by the administration shall be made even if the claimed goods have been sold at auction, provided that the third party's right over these goods was declared to the office before the distribution of the proceeds from the realization.

The notice by which the deadline for initiating legal action is set for the third-party claimant (Art. 242, para. 2, and 242a, para. 3, DEBA) must contain a precise indication of the disputed property and explicitly remind that the claim will lapse if the action is not initiated within the specified deadline.

If the administration considers the claim to be well-founded, it shall not notify the third-party claimant and shall not return the property before ensuring that: a. the second meeting of creditors has not made a contrary decision, and b. no creditors have individually requested the assignment of the estate's rights over the disputed property in accordance with Art. 260 of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Law (DCBL).

The costs of guarding the property shall be borne by the estate; after the assignment of rights according to Art. 260 DCBL, they shall be borne by the assignee creditor. The bankruptcy administration may set a deadline for this creditor, under the threat of immediate return of the property to the third-party claimant, to provide an unconditional commitment as well as a guarantee for the guarding costs after the assignment.

For this purpose, the administration of the bankruptcy must expressly state in the notice for the second creditors' meeting that requests for assignment according to Article 260 of the Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (LP) must be submitted during the meeting or at the latest within the following ten days, under penalty of forfeiture.

However, if special circumstances make it desirable to liquidate a claim before the second creditors' meeting, the administration may convene a special meeting or set an appropriate deadline by circular addressed to the creditors, during which they must request the assignment of the estate's rights pursuant to Article 260, first paragraph LP, under penalty of forfeiture.

In the event of a summary liquidation, the same period shall be granted to creditors in important cases; this communication shall be made to them at the same time as the notice of the deposit of the schedule of distribution.

Late claims shall, in significant cases, be communicated to the creditors, at the discretion of the administration, either by official publication or by circular; if necessary, a special meeting of creditors shall be convened.

The costs incurred due to the delay shall be borne by the claimant, who may be required to advance such costs.

Articles 47 to 50 are not applicable: a. if the claims appear from the outset to be well-founded; b. if the immediate return of the claimed property is clearly in the interest of the estate, or c. if the third party provides sufficient security.

When one or more creditors have requested the assignment of the estate's rights, the bankruptcy administration provides them with the assignment certificate and sets a deadline for the third-party claimant to initiate action as provided under Art. 242, para. 2, or Art. 242a, para. 3, DEBA, specifying the assignee creditors whom the claimant must summon to court as representatives of the estate.

When a creditor claims a lien or right of retention over assets for which a claim under Art. 242 or 242a of the DCBA (Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act) has also been made, the following procedures shall apply: a. if the bankruptcy estate acknowledges the validity of the claim, the dispute between the claimant under Art. 242 or 242a of the DCBA and the creditor with a lien is resolved outside of bankruptcy; b. if, on the other hand, a lawsuit is conducted over a right claimed pursuant to Art. 242 or 242a of the DCBA, the administration rules on the lien by means of a supplementary schedule of claims, following the final rejection of the claim.

When conventional lien rights claimed on items of strict necessity have been admitted during the process of ranking of claims, these items are considered to be part of the estate and are liquidated for the benefit of the lienholder; any surplus will be returned to the bankrupt.

When assets claimed by a third party have been declared as strictly necessary, the estate does not apply Art. 242 or 242 a DEBA, but merely refers the claimant to assert their rights against the bankrupt outside of the bankruptcy proceedings.

The administration of the bankruptcy decides on access to the data which the estate has the authority to dispose of and on their restitution: a. upon receipt of the request; b. to the extent that they have pecuniary value, after the expiration of the production period provided for in Art. 232, para. 2, sec. 2, LP.

Arts. 46 to 54 apply by analogy.

The explanations provided by the bankrupt regarding each claim (Art. 244 DEBA) are recorded on the list of claims or in a special report; they shall be signed by him. If applicable, mention will be made of his death or absence. The rules stated in Article 30, first paragraph above, concerning partnerships, limited partnerships, joint-stock companies, or cooperatives, are applicable here as well.

The schedule of claims is established in the following manner: A. Claims Secured by Pledge (cf. Art. 37 DEBA): 1. claims secured by real estate pledge; 2. claims secured by movable property pledge. B. Unsecured Claims: Class I to III (Art. 219 DEBA).

If there are no claims to be reported in any of the categories or classes, it shall be noted in the schedule of claims.

Any modifications made to the schedule of claims during the opposition period, as well as any explanations and additions provided, must be noted in the margin with annotations bearing the signature of their author and will be subject to a new publication each time.

Each claim is recorded in the class and order assigned to it by the bankruptcy administration or the supervisory commission. A note is made following each claim regarding the decision taken by the administration on its admission or rejection; in the latter case, the reasons shall be briefly stated. The administration shall also decide on real rights other than ownership (such as liens, usufruct, right of habitation, easements, and land charges) that have been claimed or registered in the land register; it shall ascertain their existence, scope, and ranking.

When a claim is not sufficiently justified, the administration may dismiss it or set a deadline for the creditor to present additional evidence.

A claim cannot be admitted or dismissed conditionally, except in the event of a dispute concerning the extinction of a debt, which is undisputed in its principle, and which revives upon the return of what has been received (art. 291, 2nd para., DCBA).

If the administration cannot make a decision on the admission or rejection of a claim, it must either suspend the filing of the schedule of claims or supplement it later and file it again with the necessary publications.

Claims are numbered consecutively.

The schedule of claims must state the cause of the claim and refer to the number it bears on the list of claims.

The schedule of claims must indicate precisely for each secured claim the assets of the estate to which this right applies; for real estate, it will clearly mention the fruits and products encumbered by the lien, as well as the appurtenances; for claims, the interests potentially covered by the lien, with reference to entries in the inventory. If a third party is personally liable, the schedule will also indicate this.

Claims secured by objects that are wholly or partially the property of third parties are classified as unsecured claims for the full amount recognized, without considering the existence of the pledge, though noting its existence.

If the pledged items are realized before the distribution of the bankruptcy dividend has proceeded, the owner of the pledged goods is entitled to the dividend in place of the pledgee creditor, provided that they have been legally subrogated to the rights of the latter through the realization of the pledge. If there is a dispute concerning the subrogation, the dividend is consigned.

When pledged property is owned by the bankrupt but is located abroad, and it has not been possible, according to foreign law, to include it in the Swiss bankruptcy estate, the dividends associated with this claim shall be retained until the pledge is realized abroad and will only be paid to the creditor to the extent that the realization remains insufficient. The dividends to be paid are calculated based on this shortfall.

The bankruptcy administration shall not initially rule on disputed claims that were the subject of a lawsuit at the time of the bankruptcy opening; these claims shall simply be noted for the record in the schedule of claims.

If the lawsuit is not continued either by the bankruptcy estate or by the creditors individually pursuant to Article 260 of the Swiss Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (DEBA), the claim is considered as recognized, and the creditors no longer have the right to challenge its admission in the schedule of claims, pursuant to Article 250 DEBA.

Conversely, if the lawsuit is continued, this claim will, depending on the outcome of the litigation, either be struck off or definitively admitted; this admission can also not be challenged by the creditors.

Article 48 above shall apply by analogy to the deliberations regarding the continuation of the lawsuit.

When a supervisory commission has been appointed, the decisions made by it are recorded in the schedule of claims. The schedule of claims also includes mention of the legal proceedings it has given rise to and the manner in which they have been settled.

During the period for filing objections, the bankruptcy administration has the right to modify the decisions made in the schedule of claims only as long as no action has been taken against the estate or another creditor.

These modifications must be subject to new publications (Art. 67, 3rd paragraph).

When the administration of the bankruptcy considers not allowing a dispute concerning the schedule of claims made against the estate to be judged, but subsequently wants to recognize in whole or in part the claims of the plaintiff, it can only do so subject to the rights of the bankruptcy creditors to contest the admission of the claim or its rank, pursuant to Article 250 of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act (DCBA).

To this end, the administration must file and publish a modified schedule of claims in the sense of recognizing the previously contested rights.

Reserved are the powers possibly conferred to the supervisory commission by Article 237, paragraph 3, number 3 of the DCBA regarding the conclusion or ratification of settlements. In such a case, there is no need to proceed with the filing and publication of a new schedule of claims.

The publication of the filing of the schedule of claims occurs in the newspapers where the opening of the bankruptcy was published.

At the time of the filing of the schedule of claims, all disputes arising from the administration of the bankruptcy or the supervisory commission must be mentioned therein in a precise manner.

As for subsequent modifications, they must not be the subject of a simple notice to creditors; instead, it will be necessary to proceed during the opposition period with the revocation of the filing of the schedule of claims, as well as the filing and publication of a new or modified schedule.

The special notice provided for by Article 249, third paragraph, of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Law (LP) must state the reasons for the rejection of the claim and remind that the twenty-day period to initiate action (Article 250 LP) begins to run from the day the publication of the lodging of the schedule of claims is made.

The supplementary list concerning claims submitted after the filing of the schedule of distribution shall only be published if these claims have been admitted in whole or in part. If they have been completely dismissed, it is sufficient to notify the creditors. Articles 65 and 66 are reserved.

A schedule of claims must be established, even in cases of summary liquidation. In such cases, the rules prescribed by the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act (DCBA) and the present ordinance regarding the drafting, filing, publication of the schedule of claims, and objections that may be made to it shall be applied analogously.

The publication copy provided for in Article 257 of the Federal Act on Debt Collection and Bankruptcy (LP) must be delivered not only to the holders of mortgage claims but also to third parties to whom these claims may have been pledged (see Art. 40, first paragraph above).

A special report must be drafted for each auction; this report shall mention the individuals who conducted the auctions, the date and duration thereof, the location where they were held, and the amount reached for each item offered for sale. The report is signed by the official in charge of the auctions. If securities and claims are involved, the report shall also indicate the name of the successful bidder; in the case of furniture, this indication will only be made if the auction has been conducted as a block sale to a single person.

If the auctions were conducted by another public officer, this shall be noted in the report.

The auction minutes of real estate must also include the declaration of the official conducting the auction stating that "The property is awarded for the price of fr. ...... to N. N." This statement is signed by the successful bidder who will expressly assume this status. If there was no award, the minutes will state: "The property was not awarded"; it will also indicate why an award could not take place. If the award took place under conditions, these conditions must be specified precisely.

The bankruptcy administration is obliged to arrange for the land registry to make the necessary deletions and modifications concerning real estate mortgage titles that are wholly or partially extinguished by public auction, even if such titles were not submitted in the bankruptcy.

These deletions or modifications in the land registry must be published in the Official Gazette and are communicated by registered mail to creditors whose names and addresses are known; these notices indicate that any sale or pledge of the deleted or modified title for a value exceeding what it has retained will be punished as fraud.

If the holder of the title is unknown, the deletion or modification will be published under the care of the office, with mention in the publication of the consequences, as indicated in the above paragraph, of any sale or pledge of the title.

Pledge certificates found in the possession of the bankrupt and relating to claims secured by his real property, along with vacant entries, are not considered when establishing auction conditions, in accordance with Article 815 of the Swiss Civil Code. The pledge certificates must simply be canceled, and the vacant entries deleted from the land register after the auction.

Pledged titles related to claims secured by the debtor's immovable property, which the debtor has pledged, must not be sold at auction separately. Instead, the auction conditions for the immovable property will require cash payment of these claims, and the titles will be canceled after the auction.

When the items exposed to auction are insured against damage (see Art. 37 and 40, 2nd paragraph, above), this fact must be announced at the time of auctioning. If the insured items are sold as a whole to one single person, the insurer shall immediately be informed of this transfer of ownership.

The provisions of Articles 10 and 15 to 21 of the Ordinance of May 10, 1910, concerning the seizure, sequestration, and realization of rights arising from insurance are applicable to the private sale or public auction of rights pertaining to a life insurance policy.

The assignment of disputed rights of the bankruptcy estate in favor of one or more individual creditors, as provided by Article 260 of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Law (DCBL), takes place by means of the form and under the conditions stipulated therein.

The costs incurred by the enforcement of the judgment cannot be charged to the estate.

The bankruptcy administration must, before proceeding with a provisional distribution (Art. 237, 3rd paragraph, no. 5, and Art. 266 of the Swiss Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law), prepare a provisional distribution table, which remains deposited at the office for ten days. Notice of this deposit is given to the creditors (Art. 263 DEBL).

The bankruptcy administration shall not proceed with the distribution of dividends related to disputed claims or claims subject to a suspensive condition or an uncertain term (Art. 264, 3rd paragraph DEBL); the same applies to claims arising from guarantees to be provided by the bankrupt and for late filings, provided they were made before the provisional distribution took place (Art. 251, 3rd paragraph DEBL).

The final distribution schedule shall only be drawn up once all lawsuits related to the determination of the assets and liabilities of the estate have been concluded.

However, it is not necessary to await the resolution of lawsuits initiated by individual creditors, pursuant to Article 260 of the Bankruptcy Law, if it is established that the estate will not benefit from any potential surplus (see Art. 95 below).

If the bankruptcy administration (or possibly the supervisory commission) believes it is entitled to special fees pursuant to Article 48 of the Ordinance of September 23, 1996, on the Fees Exigible under the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act, it must, before proceeding with the establishment of the final distribution list, submit to the competent supervisory authority, to determine the amount, a detailed list of all its sessions for which the ordinance on fees does not provide a special emolument; it must attach the complete file of the bankruptcy.

The distribution list is prepared by observing the following rules: – It precisely indicates, first and foremost, for each pledged item, the proceeds from its liquidation as well as the costs of inventory, administration, and liquidation that have been incurred in connection with it. These costs must be deducted from the proceeds of its liquidation. – If there is a surplus remaining after the payment of costs and the full repayment of secured claims, this surplus is transferred to the general realization account of the assets. Conversely, if the proceeds are insufficient to fully satisfy the secured creditors, they will be listed in classes one to three for the amount uncovered, provided the bankrupt was personally obligated to pay their claims. – The total proceeds from the general assets, along with any potential surplus from pledged goods, are first used to cover all other bankruptcy-related expenses, including those resulting from a prior public inventory; the balance is distributed among unsecured creditors in accordance with the schedule of distribution.

When lawsuits initiated by individual creditors, according to Article 260 of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Law (LP), result in a favorable outcome, the bankruptcy administration must distribute the proceeds among the assignee creditors and the mass, either in the distribution table or through a special supplement.

Creditors and the bankrupt shall be individually notified by registered letter (Art. 34 LP) of the filing of the distribution schedule.

This notice shall also be provided in the event of a modification to the distribution schedule, unless such modification results from a decision made by the supervisory authority.

Before distributing the proceeds of the bankruptcy among the creditors, the bankruptcy administration must ensure that no appeals regarding the distribution schedule have been submitted to the supervisory authority within the legal period of ten days. It shall wait for the resolution of any such appeals before proceeding with the distribution.

The final report of the administration (Art. 268 of the Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act) must always be drafted in writing; it is sent to the bankruptcy judge along with all the documents and supporting materials, including receipts related to the payment of dividends. A copy of this report is attached to the bankruptcy records.

This report shall contain a concise account of the liquidation operations. It will specifically and summarily mention the causes of the bankruptcy, the amount of assets and liabilities, and the total shortfall; it will finally indicate, if applicable, the sums that had to be deposited in the consignation fund pursuant to Article 264, third paragraph of the Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act.

Even in the case of a summary liquidation, a final report must be presented and the judgment closing the bankruptcy must be published. This publication is not necessary when the liquidation has been suspended pursuant to Article 230, paragraph 2 of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Law.

When a transfer of the estate's rights has been made to one or more creditors individually pursuant to Article 260 of the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act (LP) and it is reasonable to assume that no surplus will return to the estate, the office shall submit all the bankruptcy documents to the judge and propose either to immediately close the liquidation or to wait for the conclusion of the ongoing litigation to proceed accordingly.

In addition to the provisions contained in articles 32, 49, 70, and 93, the following rules are applicable to summary liquidation: a. A meeting of the creditors must be convened if the bankrupt proposes a composition agreement and advances the costs that such a meeting will incur. b. For public auctions of real estate, articles 134 to 137 and 143 of the Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (DEBA) are applicable; however, a payment extension of more than three months must not be granted. For the rest, articles 71 to 78 and 80 of this ordinance apply to the realization. c. ...

The rules established in Article 1, first paragraph, numbers 2 to 4, and in Articles 2, 3, 5, 8 to 10, 13, 15 to 34, 36, 38, 41, 44 to 69, 71 to 78, 80, 82 to 89, 92, 93, and 95 of this ordinance are applicable to the special administration appointed by the meeting of creditors (Art. 241 DEBA and Art. 43 above).

The filing of the schedule of claims, the auction conditions, the account of expenses, and the distribution list shall take place at the offices of the competent bankruptcy office, even when a special administration has been appointed. The cantons may prescribe that public auctions are conducted by the bankruptcy officer or another public official, or with their participation.

After the closure of the bankruptcy, the special administration shall deliver the minutes and the bankruptcy documents to the office which will preserve them in its archives.

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This ordinance shall enter into force on January 1, 1912.

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All ordinances and instructions contrary to the above provisions are repealed.

In particular, Article 12 of the Ordinance of 10 May 1910 concerning the seizure, attachment, and realization of rights deriving from insurance policies is amended by Article 61 above.