The Uneasy Relationship Between Arbitration And Bankruptcy

Originally published July 2009

Incidence on an arbitration of a bankruptcy law provision that provides for a termination of any arbitration agreement in case of bankruptcy.

Facts

The dispute referred to arbitration pertained to a settlement agreement executed on March 29, 2006, between Vivendi SA and other telecom entities in Switzerland and Poland on the one hand, and Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile and other telecom entities in Switzerland, Poland and Germany, including Elektrim SA, on the other hand. The settlement agreement provided for arbitration pursuant to the ICC Rules of arbitration, with the seat of arbitration in Geneva. It is not specified in the Swiss Supreme Court's summary report which law governed the merits of the case.