Federal Act
on the Amendment of the Swiss Civil Code
(Part Five: The Code of Obligations)

¹ Earn­est money paid on en­ter­ing in­to a con­tract is deemed a mark of the party’s in­ten­tion to hon­our the con­tract rather than a for­feit.

² Un­less oth­er­wise stip­u­lated by agree­ment or loc­al cus­tom, the earn­est money is re­tained by the re­cip­i­ent without be­ing de­duc­ted from his claim.

³ Where a sum of for­feit money has been agreed, the party that paid the sum may with­draw from the con­tract by re­lin­quish­ing it and the party that re­ceived it by re­turn­ing twice the amount.