Asset Management Accounting and Jurisdiction under the Lugano Convention

The appellant sought an accounting of asset management and payment of the resulting balance from the respondent, who resided in Spain, leading the lower court to dismiss the case for lack of local jurisdiction under Article 5(1) of the Lugano Convention. The appellate court affirmed this dismissal, reasoning that when claims for equally ranked subsidiary obligations arising from the same contract have different places of performance, multiple jurisdictions exist; however, for the specific subsidiary obligations here (accounting and restitution), the applicable law, determined by the habitual residence of the mandatary (the respondent), pointed to Spanish law under Article 117 of the Private International Law Act, which established the place of performance to be Spain, thus precluding Swiss jurisdiction.