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Agency contract under German Law: Right of the commercial agent to receive a statement of account, which is the place of fulfillment?

Distribution law

Agency contract under German Law: Right of the commercial agent to receive a statement of account, which is the place of fulfillment?

When a commercial agency relationship is terminated, the commercial agent requests that the company provide him with the statement of account to which he is entitled pursuant to § 87c subsection 2 of the German Commercial Code (HGB). There are often disputes about the content or the form of the statement of account to be issued, less frequently about the specific place of fulfillment. It happens that the commercial agent insists on the documents being sent by mail or e-mail, as was the case in the past with the commission statements. However, according to case law (most recently Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, I-16 W 77/07), the company cannot be obliged to do this. Unlike the commission statements, which the principal must transmit to the agent, the obligation to deliver the account statement must be performed at the place of the debtor, i.e. at the registered offices of the company. It is sufficient for the principal to make the account statement available for collection. In principle, the agent is therefore obliged to collect the account statement requested or to have it collected by someone else at the firm's premises.